A  Pamphlet  Of  Original  Documents 
Of  United  States  History 
Edited  With  Notes 

By 

E.  G.  Foster 


AT   LOS  ANGELES 


(rtxixi^fc^su**^  *vi**^ 

A  Pamphlet  of  Original  Documents 


United 


Edited  With  Nofe?~ 


BY  c«,  .i]  <$A  &^™&  7$ 


E.  Q.  FOSTER. 

>, 


c 


Copyrighted  by  E.  d.  Foster,  1906. 


PUBLISHED  BY 

Historical     F^cifcjlisHing     Co., 

TOPEKA,     KANSAS. 


A  Pamphlet  of  Original  Documents 


OF 


United  States   History 


Edited  With  Notes 


BY 


E.  G.  FOSTER. 


Copyrighted  by  E.  Q.  Foster,  1906, 


PUBLISHED  BY 

Historical      F^ulolisHing     Co., 

TOPEKA,     KANSAS. 


PREFACE. 

It  is  now  generally  conceded  that  high  school  and  norm- 
al school  students  should  do  some  work  with  the  source 
method  in  the  study  of  U.  S.  history.  With  rare  exceptions 
but  little  has  been  accomplished  in  this  line  below  collegiate 
courses,  owing  to  the  difficulty  in  placing  material  within 
reach  of  the  pupils.  It  is  next  to  impossible  to  have  all 
pupils  in  a  class  use  the  source  material  at  the  command 
of  most  high  schools,  without  the  loss  of  a  great  amount  of 
time  which  must  be  taken  from  a  course  of  study  already 
crowded  to  the  limit.  A  few  pupils  in  all  classes  can  read- 
ily find  access  to  original  documents,  the  majority  cannot. 

This  pamphlet  is  prepared  to  afford,  at  a  small  cost,  an 
opportunity  for  any  pupil  to  study  in  original  form  a  few 
documents  bearing  upon  the  important  events  of  history. 

Some  prominence  has  been  given  to  financial  documents 
for  the  reason  that  the  financial  question  has  been  and  al- 
ways will  continue  to  be  one  of  the  great  problems  for  solu- 
tion by  nations  and  individuals,  and  most  school  text  books 
treat  the  subject  inadequately  or  indefinitely. 

Selection  has  been  made  only  of  such  material  as  is  of 
vital  importance.  No  pretension  is  made  to  give  anything 
new,  rare,  or,  to  give  a  great  variety  of  documents.  ,An 
acquaintance  with  a  few  of  the  source  documents  may  culti- 
vate a  taste  or  create  a  desire  for  a  more  extended  course 
of  study  of  such  material  which  forms  the  basis  of  all  sound 
historical  knowledge. 
Topeka,  Kan.,  June,  1906.  E.  G.  FOSTER. 


em 


TREATY  OF  PARIS,  1783.  3 

Treaty  of  Paris,  Sept.  3,  1783. 

The  provisional  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  at  Paris,  November 
30,  1782.  A  cessation  of  hostilities  was  declared  January  20,  1783, 
and  the  definitive  treaty  signed  September  3,  1783. 

In  the  name  of  the  Most  Holy  and  Undivided  Trinity. 

It  having  pleased  the  Divine  Providence  to  dispose  the  hearts  of 
the  most  serene  and  most  potent  Prince  George  the  Third,  by  the 
Grace  of  God,  King  of  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Ireland,  Defender 
of  the  Faith,  Duke  of  Brunswick  and  Luneberg,  Arch-Treasurer 
and  Prince  Elector  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  &ca.,  and  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  to  forget  all  past  misunderstandings  and 
differences  that  have  unhappily  interrupted  the  good  correspondence 
and  friendship  which  they  mutually  wish  to  restore  ;  and  to  establish 
such  a  beneficial  and  satisfactory  intercourse  between  the  two  coun- 
tries, upon  the  ground  of  reciprocal  advantages  and  mutual  conven- 
ience, as  may  promote  and  secure  to  both  perpetual  peace  and  har- 
mony :  And  having  for  this  desirable  end  already  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  peace  and  reconciliation,  by  the  provisional  articles,  signed  at 
Paris,  on  the  3oth  of  Nev'r,  1782,  by  the  commissioners  empowered 
on  each  part,  which  articles  were  agreed  to  be  inserted  in  and  to 
constitute  the  treaty  of  peace  proposed  to  be  concluded  between  the 
Crown  of  Great  Britain  and  the  said  United  States,  but  which  treaty 
was  not  to  be  concluded  until  terms  of  peace  should  be  agreed  upon 
between  Great  Britain  and  France,  and  His  Britanic  Majesty  should 
be  ready  to  conclude  such  treaty  accordingly;  and  the  treaty  be- 
tween Great  Britain  and  France  having  since  been  concluded.  His 
Britanic  Majesty  and  the  United  States  of  America,  in  order  to 
carry  into  full  effect  the  provisional  articles  above  mentioned,  ac- 
cording to  the  tenor  thereof,  have  constituted  and  appointed,  that 
is  to  say,  His  Britanic  Majesty  on  his  part,  David  Hartley,  esqr., 
member  of  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  ;  and  the  said  United 
States  on  their  part,  John  Adams,  esqr.,  late  a  commissioner  of  the 
United  States  of  America  at  the  Court  of  Versailles,  late  Delegate 
in  Congress  from  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  and  chief  justice  of 
the  said  State,  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  said  United 
States  to  their  High  Mightinesses  the  States  General  of  the  United 
Netherlands;  Benjamin  Franklin,  esqre,  late  Delegate  in  Congress 
from  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  president  of  the  convention  of  the 
said  State,  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  from  the  United  States  of 
America  at  the  Court  of  Versailles  ;  John  Jay,  esq're,  late  president 
of  Congress,  and  chief  justice  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  Min- 
ister Plenipotentiary  from  the  said  United  States  at  the  Court  of 
Madrid,  to  be  the  Plenipotentiaries  for  the  concluding  and  signing 
the  present  definitive  treaty  ;  who,  after  having  reciprocally  commu- 
nicated their  respective  full  powers,  have  agreed  upon  and  con- 
firmed the  following  articles  : 

ARTICLE  I.  —  His  Britanic  Majesty  acknowledges  the  said 
United  States,  viz.  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts  Bay, 
Rhode  Island,  and  Providence  Plantations,  Connecticut, 


.'5224 1 1 


4  TREATY  OF  PARIS,  1783. 

New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Deleware,  Maryland, 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  to 
be  free,  sovereign  and  independent  States ;  that  he  treats 
with  them  as  such,  and  for  himself,  his  heirs  and  successors, 
relinquishes  all  claims  to  the  Government,  propriety  and  ter- 
ritorial rights  of  the  same,  and  every  part  thereof. 

ARTICLE  II.  And  that  all  disputes  which  might  arise  in 
future,  on  the  subject  of  the  boundaries  of  the  United 
States  may  be  prevented,  it  is  hereby  agreed  and  declared, 
that  the  following  are,  and  shall  be  their  boundaries,  viz : 
From  the  northwest  angle  of  Nova  Scotia,  viz.  that  angle 
which  is  formed  by  a  line  drawn  due  north  from  the  source 
of  Saint  Croix  River  to  the  Highlands  ;  along  the  said  High- 
lands which  divide  those  rivers  that  empty  themselves  into 
the  river  St.  Lawrence,  from  those  which  fall  into  the  At- 
lantic Ocean,  to  the  north  westernmost  head  of  Connecticut 
River ;  thence  down  along  the  middle  of  that  river,  to  the 
forty-fifth  degree  of  north  latitude ;  from  thence,  by  a  line 
due  west  on  said  latitude,  until  it  strikes  the  river  Iroquois* 
or  Cataraquy ;  thence  along  the  middle  of  said  river  into 
Lake  Ontario,  through  the  middle  of  said  lake  until  it 
strikes  the  communication  by  water  between  that  lake  and 
Lake  Erie;  thence  along  the  middle  of  said  communication 
into  Lake  Erie,  through  the  middle  of  said  lake  until  it 
arrives  at  the  water  communication  between  that  lake  and 
Lake  Huron;  thence  along  the  middle  of  said  water  com- 
munication into  the  Lake  Huron ;  thence  through 
the  middle  of  said  lake  to  the  water  communica- 
tion between  that  lake  and  Lake  Superior ;  thence  through 
Lake  Superior  northward  of  the  Isles  Royal  and  Pheli- 
peaux.  to  the  Long  Lake**,  thence  through  the  middle  of 
said  Long  Lake,  and  the  water  communication  between  it 
and  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  to  the  said  Lake  of  the  Woods ; 
thence  through  the  said  lake  to  the  most  northwestern  point 
thereof,  and  from  thence  on  a  due  west  course  to  the  river 
Mississippi ;  thence  by  a  line  to  be  drawn  along 
the  middle  of  the  said  river  Mississippi  until  it  shall 
intersect  the  northernmost  part  of  the  thirty-first  degree  of 
north  latitude.  South,  by  a  line  to  be  drawn  due  east  from 
the  determination  of  the  line  last  mentioned,  in  the  latitude 

*St.    Lawrence   river. 
**Rainy  Lake. 


TREATY  OF  PARIS,  1783.  5 

of  thirty-one  degrees  north  of  the  Equator,  to  the  middle 
of  the  river  Apalachicola  or  Catahouche* ;  thence  along  the 
middle  thereof  to  its  junction  with  the  Flint  River ;  thence 
straight  to  the  head  of  St.  Mary's  River ;  and  thence  down 
along  the  middle  of  St.  Mary's  River  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 
East,  by  a  line  to  be  drawn  along  the  middle  of  the  river 
St.  Croix,  from  its  mouth  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy  to  its  source, 
and  from  its  source  directly  north  to  the  aforesaid  High- 
lands, which  divide  the  rivers  that  fall  into  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  from  those  which  fall  into  the  river  St.  Lawrence ; 
comprehending  all  islands  within  twenty  leagues  of  any  part 
of  the  shores  of  the  United  States,  and  lying  between  lines 
to  be  drawn  due  east  from  the  points  where  the  aforesaid 
boundaries  between  Nova  Scotia  on  the  one  part,  and  East 
Florida  on  the  other,  shall  respectively  touch  the  Bay  of 
Fundy  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean ;  excepting  such  islands  as 
now  are,  or  heretofore  have  been,  within  the  limits  of  the 
said  province  of  Nova  Scotia. 

ARTICLE  III.  It  is  agreed  that  the  people  of  the  United 
States  shall  continue  to  enjoy  unmolested  the  right  to  take 
fish  of  every  kind  on  the  Grand  Bank,  and  on  all  the  other 
banks  of  Newfoundland ;  also  in  the  Gulph  of  Saint  Law- 
rence, and  at  all  other  places  in  the  sea  where  the  inhabi- 
tants of  both  countries  used  at  any  time  heretofore  to  fish. 
And  also  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  shall  have 
liberty  to  take  fish  of  every  kind  on  such  part  of  the  coast 
of  Newfoundland  as  British  fisherman  shall  use  (but  not  to 
dry  or  cure  the  same  on  that  island)  and  also  on  the  coasts, 
bays,  and  creeks  of  all  other  of  His  Britanic  Majesty's  do- 
minions in  America ;  and  that  the  American  fishermen  shall 
have  liberty  to  dry  and  cure  fish  in  any  of  the  unsettled 
bays,  harbours,  and  creeks  of  Nova  Scotia,  Magdalen 
Islands,  and  Labrador,  so  long  as  the  same  shall  remain 
unsettled ;  but  so  soon  as  the  same  or  either  of  them  shall 
be  settled,  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  the  said  fishermen  to 
dry  or  cure  fish  at  such  settlement,  without  a  previous  agree- 
ment for  that  purpose  with  the  inhabitants,  proprietors,  or 
possessors  of  the  ground. 

ARTICLE  IV.  It  is  agreed  that  creditors  on  either  side 
shall  meet  with  no  lawful  impediment  to  the  recovery  of  the 

"Chattahouchee   river. 


6  TREATY  OF  PARIS,  1783. 

full  value  in  sterling  money,  of  all  bona  fide  debts  hereto- 
fore contracted. 

ARTICLE  V.  It  is  agreed  that  the  Congress  shall  earn- 
estly recommend  it  to  the  legislatures  of  the  respective 
States,  to  provide  for  the  restitution  of  all  estates,  rights, 
and  properties  which  have  been  confiscated,  belonging  to 
real  British  subjects,  and  also  of  the  estates,  rights,  and  pro- 
perties of  persons  resident  in  districts  in  the  possession  of 
His  Majesty's  arms,  and  who  have  not  borne  arms  against 
the  said  United  States.  And  that  persons  of  any  other  de- 
scription shall  have  free  liberty  to  go  to  any  part  or  parts 
of  any  of  the  thirteen  United  States,  and  therein  to  remain 
twelve  months,  unmolested  in  their  endeavours  to  obtain  the 
restitution  of  such  of  their  estates,  rights,  and  properties  as 
may  have  been  confiscated ;  and  that  Congress  shall  also 
earnestly  recommend  to  the  several  States  a  reconsideration 
and  revision  of  all  acts  or  laws  regarding  the  premises,  so 
as  to  render  the  said  laws  or  acts  perfectly  consistent,  not 
only  with  justice  and  equity,  but  with  that  spirit  of  concil- 
iation which,  on  the  return  of  the  blessings  of  peace,  should 
universally  prevail.  And  that  Congress  shall  also  earnestly 
recommend  to  the  several  States,  that  the  estates,  rights, 
and  properties  of  such  last  mentioned  persons,  shall  be  re- 
stored to  them,  they  refunding  to  any  persons  who  may  be 
now  in  possession,  the  bona  fide  price  (where  any  has  been 
given)  which  such  persons  may  have  paid  on  purchasing 
any  of  the  said  lands,  rights,  or  properties,  since  the  confis- 
cation. And  it  is  agreed,  that  all  persons  who  have  any  in- 
terest in  confiscated  lands,  either  by  debts,  marriage  settle- 
ments, or  otherwise,  shall  meet  with  no  lawful  impediment 
in  the  prosecution  of  their  just  rights. 

ARTICLE  VI.  That  there  shall  be  no  future  confiscations 
made,  nor  any  prosecutions  commenc'd  against  any  person 
or  persons  for,  or  by  reason  of  the  part  which  he  or  thev 
may  have  taken  in  the  present  war ;  and  that  no  person 
shall,  on  that  account,  suffer  any  future  loss  or  damage, 
either  in  his  person,  liberty,  or  property ;  and  that  those  who 
may  be  in  confinement  on  such  charges,  at  the  time  of  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty  in  America,  shall  be  immediately 
set  at  liberty,  and  the  prosecutions  so  commenced  be  discon- 
tinued. 

ARTICLE  VII.    There  shall  be  a  firm  and  perpetual  peace 


TREATY  OF  PARIS,  1783.  7 

between  His  Britanic  Majesty  and  the  said  States,  and  be- 
tween the  subjects  of  the  one  and  the  citizens  of  the  other, 
wherefore  all  hostilities,  both  by  sea  and  land,  shall  from 
henceforth  cease :  All  prisoners  on  both  sides  shall  be  set  at 
liberty,  and  His  Britanic  Majesty  shall,  with  all  convenient 
speed,  and  without  causing  any  destruction,  or  carrying 
away  any  negroes  or  other  property  of  the  American  in- 
habitants, withdraw  all  his  armies,  garrisons,  and  fleets 
from  the  said  United  States,  and  from  every  port,  place, 
and  harbor  within  the  same;  leaving  in  all  fortifications  the 
American  artillery  that  may  be  therein :  And  shall  also  or- 
der and  cause  all  archives,  records,  deeds,  and  papers,  be- 
longing to  any  of  the  said  States,  or  their  citizens,  which,  in 
the  course  of  the  war,  may  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  his 
officers,  to  be  forthwith  restored  and  delivered  to  the  proper 
States  and  persons  to  whom  they  belong. 

ARTICLE  VIII.  The  navigation  of  the  river  Mississippi, 
from  its  source  to  the  ocean,  shall  forever  remain  free  and 
open  to  the  subjects  of  Great  Britain,  and  the  citizens  of 
the  United  States. 

ARTICLE  IX.  In  case  it  should  so  happen  that  any  place 
or  territory  belonging  to  Great  Britain  or  to  the  United 
States,  should  have  been  conquered  by  the  arms  of  either 
from  the  other,  before  the  arrival  of  the  said  provisional 
articles  in  America,  it  is  agreed,  that  the  same  shall  be  re- 
stored without  difficulty,  and  without  requiring  any  com- 
pensation. 

ARTICLE  X.  The  solemn  ratifications  of  the  present 
treaty,  expedited  in  good  and  due  form,  shall  be  exchanged 
between  the  contracting  parties,  in  the  space  of  six  months, 
or  sooner  if  possible,  to  be  computed  from  the  day  of  the 
signature  of  the  present  treaty.  In  witness  whereof,  we  the 
undersigned,  their  Ministers  Plenipotentiary,  have  in  their 
name  and  in  virtue  of  our  full  powers,  signed  with  our 
hands  the  present  definitive  treaty,  and  caused  the  seals  of 
our  arms  to  be  affixed  thereto. 

Done  at  Paris,  this  third  day  of  September,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-three. 

D.  HARTLEY.  (L.  s.) 
JOHN  ADAMS.  (L.  s.) 
B.  FRANKLIN.  (L.  s.) 
JOHN  JAY.  (L.  s.) 


8  ORDINANCE  OF  1787. 

Ordinance  of  1787. 
July  13. 

The  Virginia  delegates  in  Congress  executed  a  deed  March  i, 
1784,  ceding  to  the  United  States,  all  her  claims  to  the  northwestern 
territory.  Congress  provided  a  temporary  government  for  the  terri- 
tory, April  23,  1784,  and  on  the  23rd  of  July,  1787  it  passed  the 
Ordinance  which  has  since  become  famous. 

By  Act  of  August  7,  1789,  Congress  extended  its  provisions  to 
continue  in  effect  under  the  constitution.  In  May  25,  1790,  the  main 
provisions  of  the  Ordinance  were  extended  to  the  "Territory  south 
of  the  Ohio." 

An  Ordinance  for  the  government  of  the  territory  of  the 

United  States  northwest  of  the  river  Ohio. 
SECTION  1.  Be  it  ordained  by  the  United  States  in  Con- 
gress assembled,  That  the  said  territory,  for  the  purposes  of 
temporary  government,  be  one  district,  subject,  however,  to 
be  divided  into  two  districts,  as  future  circumstances  may, 
in  the  opinion  of  Congress,  make  it  expedient. 

******:(« 

SEC.  14.  It  is  hereby  ordained  and  declared,  by  the  au- 
thority aforsaid,  that  the  following  articles  shall  be  con- 
sidered as  articles  of  compact,  between  the  original  States 
and  the  people  and  States  in  the  said  territory,  and  forever 
remain  unalterable,  unless  by  common  consent,  to  wit: 

ARTICLE  I.  No  person,  demeaning  himself  in  a  peaceable 
and  orderly  manner,  shall  ever  be  molested  on  account  of 
his  mode  of  worship,  or  religious  sentiments,  in  the  said 
territories. 

ART.  II.  The  inhabitants  of  the  said  territory  shall  always 
be  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  of 
the  trial  by  jury  ;of  a  proportionate  representation  of  the  peo- 
ple in  the  legislature,  and  of  judicial  proceedings  according 
to  the  course  of  common  law.  All  persons  shall  be  bailable, 
unless  for  capital  offences,  where  the  proof  shall  be  evident, 
or  the  presumption  great.  All  fines  shall  be  moderate;  and 
no  cruel  or  unusual  punishments  shall  be  inflicted.  No  man 
shall  be  deprived  of  his  liberty  or  property,  but  by  the  judg- 
ment of  his  peers,  or  the  law  of  the  land,  and  should  the 
public  exigencies  make  it  necessary,  for  the  common  pre- 
servation, to  take  any  person's  property,  or  to  demand  his 
particular  services,  full  compensation  shall  be  made  for  the 
same.  And,  in  the  just  preservation  of  rights  and  property, 
it  is  understood  and  declared,  that  no  law  ought  ever  to  be 


ORDINANCE  OF  1787.  9 

made  or  have  force  in  the  said  territory,  that  shall,  in  any 
manner  whatever,  interfere  with  or  affect  private  contracts, 
or  engagements,  bona  fide,  and  without  fraud  previously 
formed. 

ARTICLE  III.  Religion,  morality,  and  knowledge  being 
necessary  to  good  government  and  the  happiness  of  man- 
kind, schools  and  the  means  of  education  shall  forever  be 
encouraged.  The  utmost  good  faith  shall  always  be  observ- 
ed towards  the  Indians ;  their  lands  and  property  shall  never 
be  taken  from  them  without  their  consent;  and  in  their 
property,  rights,  and  liberty  they  never  shall  be  invaded  or 
disturbed,  unless  in  just  and  lawful  wars  authorized  by 
Congress ;  but  laws  founded  in  justice  and  humanity  shall, 
from  time  to  time,  be  made,  for  preventing  wrongs  being 
done  to  them,  and  for  preserving  peace  and  friendship  with 
them. 

ARTICLE  IV.  The  said  territory,  and  the  States  which 
may  be  formed  therein,  shall  forever  remain  a  part  of  this 
confederacy  of  the  United  States  of  America,  subject  to  the 
Articles  of  Confederation,  and  to  such  alterations  therein  as 
shall  be  constitutionally  made ;  and  to  all  acts  and  ordin- 
ances of  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  con- 
formable thereto.  The  inhabitants  and  settlers  in  the  said 
territory  shall  be  subject  to  pay  a  part  of  the  Federal  debts, 
contracted,  or  to  be  contracted,  and  a  proportional  part  of 
the  expenses  of  government  to  be  apportioned  on  them  by 
Congress,  according  to  the  same  common  rule  and  measure 
by  which  apportionments  thereof  shall  be  made  on  the  other 
States;  and  the  taxes  for  paying  their  proportion  shall  be 
laid  and  levied  by  the  authority  and  direction  of  the  legis- 
latures of  the  district,  or  districts,  or  new  States,  as  in  the 
original  States,  within  the  time  agreed  upon  by  the  United 
States  in  Congress  assembled.  The  legislatures  of  those 
districts,  or  new  States,  shall  never  interfere  with  the  prim- 
ary disposal  of  the  soil  by  the  United  States  in  Congress 
assembled,  nor  with  any  regulations  Congress  may  find  nec- 
essary for  securing  the  title  in  such  soil  to  the  bona  fide  pur- 
chasers. No  tax  shall  be  imposed  on  lands  the  property  of 
the  United  States ;  and  in  no  case  shall  non-resident  prop- 
prietors  be  taxed  higher  than  residents.  The  navigable 
waters  leading  into  the  Mississippi  and  Saint  Lawrence,  and 
the  carrying  places  between  the  same,  shall  be  common 


10  EXTRACT  FROM  COINAGE  ACT,  1792. 

highways,  and  forever  free,  as  well  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  said  territory  as  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and 
those  of  any  other  States  that  may  be  admitted  into  the  con- 
federacy, without  any  tax,  impost,  or  duty  therefor. 

ARTICLE  V.  There  shall  be  formed  in  the  said  territory 

not  less  than  three  nor  more  than  five  States 

(Boundaries  for  proposed  divisions.) 

ARTICLE  VI.  There  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  invol- 
untary servitude  in  the  said  territory,  otherwise  than  in  the 
punishment  of  crimes,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been 
duly  convicted :  Provided  always,  That  any  person  escaping 
into  the  same,  from  whom  labor  or  service  is  lawfully  re- 
claimed, and  conveyed  to  the  person  claiming  his  or  her 
labor  or  service  as  aforesaid. 

Be  it  ordained  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  the  reso- 
lutions of  the  23d  of  April,  1784,  relative  to  the  subject  of 
this  ordinance,  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby,  repealed,  and 
declared  null  and  void. 

Done  by  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  the 
13th  day  of  July,  HI  the  year  of  our  Lord  1787,  and  of  their 
sovereignty  and  independence  the  twelfth. 


Extract  from  Coinage  Act,  April  2,  1792. 

Prior  to  the  passage  of  this  Act,  there  w,as  no  National  currency. 
The  fluctuations  in  the  value  of  state  paper  and  continental  cur- 
rency, and  the  great  variety  of  foreign  coin  caused  much  incon- 
venience in  trade. 

The  law  of  1792,  provided  for  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage 
of  both  gold  and  silver.  By  the  Act  of  1873  the  coinage  of  the  silver 
dollar  was  discontinued,  but  again  resumed  under  the  Act  of  1878. 
The  Act  of  1873  ended  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  the  silver 
dollar.  There  has  always  been  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  gold. 

SEC.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress 
assembled,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted  and  declared.  That  a 
Mint  for  the  purpose  of  a  national  coinage  be,  and  the  same 
is  established ;  to  be  situate  and  carried  on  at  the  seat  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  for  the  time  being:  And 
that  for  the  well  conducting  of  the  business  of  the  said 
Mint,  there  shall  be  the  following  officers  and  persons,  name- 


EXTRACT  FROM  COINAGE  ACT,  1792.  11 

ly, — a  Director,  an  assayer,  a  chief  coiner,  an  engraver,  a 
treasurer. 

*  ^!  ^  *  *  *  * 

SEC.  9.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  there  shall  be 
from  time  to  time  struck  and  coined  at  the  said  Mint,  coins 
of  gold,  silver,  and  copper,  of  the  following  denominations, 
values,  and  descriptions,  viz.  EAGLES — each  to  be  of  the 
value  of  ten  dollars  or  units,  and  to  contain  two  hundred 
and  forty-seven  grains  and  four  eighths  of  a  grain  of  pure, 
or  two  hundred  and  seventy  grains  of  standard  gold.  HALF 
EAGLES — each  to  be  of  the  value  of  five  dollars,  and  to  con- 
tain one  hundred  and  twenty-three  grains  and  six  eights  of 
a  grain  of  pure,  or  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  grains  of 
standard  gold.  QUARTER  EAGLES — each  to  be  of  the  value 
of  two  dollars  and  a  half  dollar,  and  to  contain  sixty-one 
grains  and  seven  eighths  of  a  grain  of  pure,  or  sixty-seven 
grains  and  four  eighths  of  a  grain  of  standard  gold.  DOL- 
LARS OR  UNITS — each  to  be  of  the  value  of  a  Spanish  milled 
dollar  as  the  same  is  now  current,  and  to  contain  three  hun- 
dred and  seventy-one  grains  and  four  sixteenth  parts  of  a 
grain  of  pure,  or  four  hundred  and  sixteen  grains  of  stand- 
ard silver.  HALF  DOLLARS — each  to  be  of  half  the  value  of 
the  dollar  of  unit,  and  to  contain  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
five  grains  and  ten  sixteenth  parts  of  a  grain  of  pure,  or  two 
hundred  and  eight  grains  of  standard  silver.  QUARTER 
DOLLARS — each  to  be  of  one  fourth  the  value  of  the  dollar 
or  unit,  and  to  contain  ninety-two  grains  and  thirteen  six- 
teenth parts  of  a  grain  of  pure,  or  one  hundred  and  four 
grains  of  standard  silver.  DISMES — each  to  be  of  the  value 
of  one  tenth  of  a  dollar  or  unit,  and  to  contain  thirty-seven 
grains  and  two  sixteenth  parts  of  a  grain  of  pure,  or  forty- 
one  grains  and  three  fifth  parts  of  a  grain  of  standard  sil- 
ver. HALF  DISMES — each  to  be  the  value  of  one  twentieth 
of  a  dollar,  and  to  contain  eighteen  grains  and  nine  sixteenth 
parts  of  a  grain  of  pure,  or  twenty  grains  and  four  fifth 
parts  of  a  grain  of  standard  silver.  CENTS — each  to  be  of 
the  value  of  the  one  hundredth  part  of  a  dollar,  and  to  con- 
tain eleven  penny-weights  of  copper.  HALF-CENTS — each  to 
be  of  the  value  of  half  a  cent,  and  to  contain  five  penny- 
weights and  half  a  penny-weight  of  copper. 

SEC.  11.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  proportional 
value  of  gold  to  silver  in  all  coins  which  shall  by  law  be 


12  EXTRACT  FROM  COINAGE  ACT,  1792. 

current  as  money  within  the  United  States,  shall  be  as  fif- 
teen to  one,  according  to  quantity  in  weight,  of  pure  gold 
or  pure  silver ;  that  is  to  say,  every  fifteen  pounds  weight  of 
pure  silver  shall  be  of  equal  value  in  all  payments,  with  one 
pound  weight  of  pure  gold,  and  to  so  in  proportion  as  to 

any  greater  or  less  quantities  of  the  respective  metals. 
'*****## 

SEC.  14.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  be  law- 
ful for  any  person  or  persons  to  bring  to  the  said  Mint  gold 
and  silver  bullion,  in  order  to  their  being  coined;  and  that 
the  bullion  so  brought  shall  be  there  assayed  and  coined  as 
speedily  as  may  be  after  the  receipt  thereof,  and  that  free 
of  expense  to  the  person  or  persons  by  whom  the  same  shall 
have  been  brought.  And  as  soon  as  the  said  bullion  shall 
have  been  coined,  the  person  or  persons  by  whom  the  same 
shall  have  been  delivered,  shall  upon  demand  receive  in  lieu 
thereof  of  coins  of  the  same  species  of  bullion  which  shall 
have  been  so  delivered,  weight  for  weight,  of  the  pure  gold 
or  pure  silver  therein  contained :  Provided  nevertheless, 
That  it  shall  be  at  the  mutual  option  of  the  party  or  parties 
bringing  such  bullion,  and  of  the  Director  of  the  said  Mint, 
to  make  an  immediate  exchange  of  coins  for  standard  bul- 
lion, with  a  deduction  of  one  half  per  cent,  from  the  weight 
of  the  pure  gold,  or  pure  silver  contained  in  the  said  bullion, 
as  an  indemnification  to  the  Mint  for  the  time  which  will 
necessarily  be  required  for  coining  the  said  bullion,  and  for 
the  advance  which  shall  have  been  so  made  in  coins.  And  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  furnish 
the  said  Mint  from  time  to  time  whenever  the  state  of  the 
Treasury  will  admit  thereof,  with  such  sums  as  may  be  nec- 
essary for  effecting  the  said  exchanges,  to  be  replaced  as 
speedily  as  may  be  out  of  the  coins  which  shall  have  been 
made  of  the  bullion  for  which  the  monies  so  furnished  shall 
have  been  exchanged ;  and  the  said  deduction  of  one  half 
per  cent,  shall  constitute  a  fund  towards  defraying  the  ex- 
penses of  the  said  Mint. 

*  *  ^  *  *  *  * 

SEC.  16.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  the  gold  and 
silver  coins  which  shall  have  been  struck  at,  and  issued 
from  the  said  Mint,  shall  be  a  lawful  tender  in  all  payments 
whatsoever,  those  of  full  weight  according  to  the  respect- 
ive values  herein  before  declared,  and  those  of  less  than  full 
weight  at  values  proportional  to  their  respective  weights. 


TREATY  WITH  FRANCE,  1803.  13 

Treaty  with  France  for  the  Cession  of  Louisiana. 
April  30,  1803. 

By  the  treaty  of  Paris,  1763,  France  ceded  Canada  and  her  pos- 
sessions east  of  the  Mississippi  river,  excepting  New  Orleans,  to 
England,  and  in  1762  she  ceded  New  Orleans  and  Louisiana  to 
Spain. 

By  the  secret  treaty  of  San  Ildefonso,  October  I,  1800,  Spain 
ceded  Louisiana  to  France.  The  transfer  from  Spanish  to  French 
authority  was  not  made  until  after  the  sale  of  Louisiana  to  the  Uni- 
ted States.  The  Spanish  Intendant  of  Louisiana  issued  a  proclama- 
tion, October  16,  1802,  taking  away  the  right  of  deposit  for  merchan- 
dise at  New  Orleans,  and  the  use  of  free  navigation  of  the  Mississip- 
pi river,  rights  which  were  guaranteed  the  U.  S.  by  the  treaty  of 
1795.  As  there  were  no  railways  then,  the  Mississippi  river  was  the 
only  commercial  highway  for  the  people  living  west  of  the  Appalach- 
ian mountains.  The  arbitrary  action  of  the  Spanish  Intendant  cre- 
ated great  indignation  in  the  U.  S.  and  led  Jefferson  to  appoint 
James  Monroe  as  minister  extraordinary  to  aid  Livingston,  minister 
to  France,  to  negotiate  a  treaty,  "for  the  purpose  of  enlarging,  and 
more  effectually  securing  our  rights  and  interests  on  the  Mississippi 
river  and  the  territories  eastward  thereof." 

The  Louisiana  Purchase,  made  by  a  treaty  and  two  conventions, 
was  the  result.  The  treaty  was  concluded  April  30,  and  ratified 
October  21,  1803. 


The  President  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  the  First 
Consul  of  the  French  Republic,  in  the  name  of  the  French  people, 
desiring  to  remove  all  source  of  misunderstanding  relative  to  ob- 
jects of  discussion  mentioned  in  the  second  and  fifth  articles  of  the 
convention  of  the  8th  Vendemiaire,  an  9  (3Oth  September,  1800) 
relative  to  the  rights  claimed  by  the  United  States,  in  virtue  of  the 
treaty  concluded  at  Madrid,  the  27th  of  October,  1795,  between  his 
Catholic  Majesty  and  the  said  United  States,  and  willing  to  strength- 
en the  union  and  friendship  which  at  the  time  of  the  said  convention 
was  happily  re-established  between  the  two  nations,  have  respective- 
ly named  their  Plenipotentiaries,  to  wit :  the  President  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  of  the 
said  States,  Robert  R.  Livingston,  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the 
United  States,  and  James  Monroe,  Minister  Plenipotentiary  and 
Envoy  Extraordinary  of  the  said  States,  near  the  Government  of 
the  French  Republic;  and  the  First  Consul,  in  the  name  of  the 
French  people,  Citizen  Francis  Barbe  Marbois,  Minister  of  the  Pub- 
lic Treasury ;  who,  after  having  respectively  exchanged  their  full 
powers,  have  agreed  to  the  following  articles : 

ARTICLE  I.  Whereas  by  the  article  the  third  of  the  treaty 
concluded  at  St.  Idelfonso,  the  9th  Vendemiaire,  an  9  (1st 
October,  1800,)  between  the  First  Consul  of  the  French 
Republic  and  His  Catholic  Majesty,  it  was  agreed  as  fol- 
lows: "His  Catholic  Majesty  promises  and  engages  on  his 


14  TREATY  WITH  FRANCE,  1803. 

part,  to  cede  to  the  French  Republic,  six  months  after  the 
full  and  entire  execution  of  the  conditions  and  stipulations 
herein  relative  to  His  Royal  Highness  the  Duke  of  Parma, 
the  colony  or  province  of  Louisiana,  with  the  same  extent 
that  it  now  has  in  the  hands  of  Spain,  and  that  it  had  when 
France  possessed  it,  and  such  as  it  should  be  after  the  treat- 
ies subsequently  entered  into  between  Spain  and  other 
States."  And  whereas,  in  pursuance  of  the  treaty,  and 
particularly  of  the  third  article,  the  French  Republic  has  an 
incontestible  title  to  the  domain  and  to  the  possession  of  the 
said  territory:  The  First  Consul  of  the  French  Republic 
desiring  to  give  to  the  United  States  a  strong  proof  of  his 
friendship,  doth  hereby  cede  to  the  said  United  States,  in 
the  name  of  the  French  Republic,  forever  and  in  full  sov- 
ereignty, the  said  territory,  with  all  its  rights  and  appurten- 
ances, as  fully  and  in  the  same  manner  as  they  have  been 
acquired  by  the  French  Republican  virtue  of  the  above- 
mentioned  treaty,  concluded  with  His  Catholic  Majesty. 

ARTICLE  II.  In  the  cession  made  by  the  preceding  article 
are  included  the  adjacent  islands  belonging  to  Louisiana,  all 
public  lots  and  squares,  vacant  lands,  and  all  public  build- 
ings, fortifications,  barracks,  and  other  edifices  which  are  not 
private  property.  The  archives,  papers,  and  documents,  rel- 
ative to  the  domain  and  sovereignty  of  Louisiana  and  its 
dependences,  will  be  left  in  the  possession  of  the  commis- 
saries of  the  United  States,  and  copies  will  be  afterwards 
given  in  due  form  to  the  magistrates  and  municipal  officers 
of  such  of  the  said  papers  and  documents  as  may  be  neces- 
sary to  them. 

(Southwestern  boundary  was  fixed  1819.  See  Florida  Treaty, 
Article  III.  The  Northern  boundary  was  fixed  1818.  Extract  from 
treaty  with  Great  Britain  1818.  is  given  below:) 

It  is  agreed  that  a  Line  drawn  from  the  most  North  Western 
Point  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  along  the  forty  Ninth  Parallel  of 
North  Latitude,  or,  if  the  said  Point  shall  not  be  in  the  Forty  Ninth 
Parallel  of  North  Latitude,  then  that  a  Line  drawn  from  the  said 
Point  due  North  or  South  as  the  Case  may  be,  until  the  said  Line 
shall  intersect  the  said  Parallel  of  North  Latitude,  and  from  the 
Point  of  such  Intersection  due  West  along  and  with  the  said  Par- 
allel shall  be  the  Line  of  Demarcation  between  the  Territories  of 
the  United  States,  and  those  of  His  Britanic  Majesty,  and  that  the 
said  Line  shall  form  the  Northern  Boundary  of  the  said  Territories 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  Southern  Boundary  of  the  Territories 
of  His  Britanic  Majesty,  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  to  the  Stony 
Mountains. 


TREATY  WITH  FRANCE,  1803.  15 

ARTICLE  III.  The  inhabitants  of  the  ceded  territory  shall 
be  incorporated  in  the  Union  of  the  United  States,  and  ad- 
mitted as  soon  as  possible,  according  to  the  principles  of  the 
Federal  constitution,  to  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights,  ad- 
vantages, and  immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States ; 
and  in  the  mean  time  they  shall  be  maintained  and  protected 
in  the  free  enjoyment  of  their  liberty,  property,  and  the  re- 
ligion which  they  profess. 

ARTICLE  IV.  There  shall  be  sent  by  the  Government  of 
France  a  commissary  to  Louisiana,  to  the  end  that  he  do 
every  act  necessary,  as  well  to  receive  from  the  officers  of 
His  Catholic  Majesty  the  said  country  and  its  dependences, 
in  the  name  of  the  French  Republic,  if  it  has  not  been  al- 
ready done,  as  to  transmit  it  in  the  name  of  the  French  Re- 
public to  the  commissary  or  agent  of  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE  V.  Immediately  after  the  ratification  of  the 
present  treaty  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  in 
case  that  of  the  First  Consul  shall  have  been  previously  ob- 
tained, the  commissary  of  the  French  Republic  shall  remit 
all  military  posts  of  New  Orleans,  and  other  parts  of  the 
ceded  territory,  to  the  commissary  or  commissaries  named 
by  the  President  to  take  possession  of  the  troops,  whether  of 
France  or  Spain,  who  may  be  there,  shall  cease  to  occupy 
any  military  post  from  the  time  of  taking  possession,  and 
shall  be  embarked  as  soon  as  possible,  in  the  course  of  three 
months  after  the  ratification  of  this  treaty. 

ARTICLE  VI.  The  United  States  promise  to  execute  such 
treaties  and  articles  as  may  have  been  agreed  between  Spain 
and  the  tribes  and  nations  of  Indians,  until,  by  mutual  con- 
sent of  the  United  States  and  the  said  tribes  or  nations, 
other  suitable  articles  shall  have  been  agreed  upon. 

ARTICLE  VII.  As  it  is  reciprocally  advantageous  to  the 
commerce  of  France  and  the  United  States  to  encourage  the 
communication  of  both  nations  for  a  limited  time  in  the 
country  ceded  by  the  present  treaty,  until  general  arrange- 
ments relative  to  the  commerce  of  both  nations  may  be 
agreed  on ;  it  has  been  agreed  between  the  contracting  par- 
ties, that  the  French  ships  coming  directly  from  France  or 
any  of  her  colonies,  loaded  only  with  the  produce  and  manu- 
factures of  France  or  her  said  colonies ;  and  the  ships  of 
Spain  coming  directly  from  Spain  or  any  of  her  colonies, 
loaded  only  with  the  produce  or  mnufactures  of  Spain  or 


16  TREATY  WITH  FRANCE,  1803. 

her  colonies  shall  be  admitted  during  the  space  of  twelve 
years  in  the  port  of  New  Orleans,  and  in  all  other  legal  ports 
of  entry  within  the  ceded  territory,  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  ships  of  the  United  States  coming  directly  from  France 
or  Spain,  or  any  of  their  colonies,  without  being  subject  to 
any  other  or  greater  duty  on  merchandise,  or  other  or  great- 
er tonnage  than  that  paid  by  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States. 

During  the  space  of  time  above  mentioned,  no  other  na- 
tion shall  have  a  right  to  the  same  privileges  in  the  ports  of 
the  ceded  territory;  the  twelve  years  shall  commence  three 
months  after  the  exchange  of  ratifications,  if  it  shall  take 
place  in  France,  or  three  months  after  it  shall  have  been 
notified  at  Paris  to  the  French  Government,  if  it  shall  take 
place  in  the  United  States ;  it  is  however  well  understood 
that  the  object  of  the  above  article  is  to  favor  the  manufac- 
tures, commerce,  freight,  and  navigation  of  France  and  of 
Spain,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  importations  that  the  French 
and  Spanish  shall  make  into  the  said  ports  of  the  United 
States,  without  in  any  sort  affecting  the  regulations  that  the 
United  States  may  make  concerning  the  exportation  of  the 
produce  and  merchandise  of  the  United  States,  or  any  right 
they  may  have  to  make  such  regulations. 

ARTICLE  VIII.  In  future  and  forever  after  the  expira- 
tion of  the  twelve  years,  the  ships  of  France  shall  be  treated 
upon  the  footing  of  the  most  favoured  nations  in  the  ports 
above  mentioned. 

ARTICLE  IX.  The  particular  convention  signed  this  day 
by  the  respective  ministers,  having  for  its  object  to  pro- 
vide for  the  payment  of  debts  due  to  the  citizens  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  by  the  French  Republic  prior  to  the  30th  Septr., 
1800,  (8th  Vendemiaire,  and  9,)  is  approved,  and  to  have 
its  execution  in  the  same  manner  as  if  it  had  been  inserted 
in  this  present  treaty ;  and  it  shall  be  ratified  in  the  same 
form  and  in  the  same  time,  so  that  the  one  shall  not  be  rati- 
fied distinct  from  the  other. 

Another  particular  convention  signed  at  the  same  date 
as  the  present  treaty  relative  to  a  definitive  rule  between  the 
contracting  parties  is  in  the  like  manner  approved,  and  will 
be  ratified  in  the  same  form,  and  in  the  same  time,  and 
jointly. 

ARTICLE  X.     The  present  treaty  shall  be  ratified  in  good 


TREATY  WITH  FRANCE,  1803.  17 

and  due  form,  and  the  ratifications  shall  be  exchanged  in 
the  space  of  six  months  after  the  date  of  the  signature  by 
the  Ministers  Plenipotentiary,  or  sooner  if  possible. 

In  faith  whereof,  the  respective  Plenipotentiaries  have 
signed  these  articles  in  the  French  and  English  languages ; 
declaring  nevertheless  that  the  present  treaty  was  originally 
agreed  to  in  the  French  language ;  and  have  thereunto 
affixed  their  seals. 

Done  at  Paris  the  tenth  day  of  Floreal,  in  the  eleventh 
year  of  the  French  Republic,  and  the  30th  of  April,  1803. 

ROBT.  R.  LIVINGSTON.  (L.  s.) 
JAS.  MONROE.  (L.  s.) 
F.  BARBE  MARBOIS.  (L.  s.) 

CONVENTION  FOR  THE  PAYMENT  OF  THE  PURCHASE 
OF  LOUISIANA,  RATIFIED  OCTOBER  21,  1803. 

ARTICLE  I.  The  Government  of  the  United  States  en- 
gages to  pay  to  the  French  Government  in  the  manner  spe- 
cified in  the  following  article,  the  sum  of  sixty  millions  of 
francs,  independent  of  the  sum  which  shall  be  fixed  by  an- 
other convention  for  the  payment  of  the  debts  due  by  France 
to  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

ART.  II.  For  the  payment  of  the  sum  of  sixty  millions  of 
francs,  mentioned  in  the  preceding  article,  the  United 
States  shall  create  a  stock  of  eleven  millions  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  bearing  an  interest  of  six  per 
cent,  per  annum,  payable  half  yearly  in  London,  Amster- 
dam, or  Paris,  amounting  by  the  half  year,  to  three  hundred 
and  thirty-seven  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  according  to 
the  proportions  which  shall  be  determined  by  the  French 
Government  to  be  paid 'at  either  place;  the  principal  of  the 
said  stock  to  be  re-imbursed  at  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States,  in  annual  payments  of  not  less  than  three  millions 
of  dollars  each,  of  which  the  first  payment  shall  commence 
fifteen  years  after  the  date  of  the  exchange. of  ratifications: 
this  stock  shall  be  transferred  to  the  Government  of  France, 
or  to  such  person  or  persons  as  shall  be  authorized  to  re- 
ceive it,  in  three  months  at  most  after  the  exchange  of  the 
ratifications  of  this  treaty,  and  after  Louisiana  shall  be  taken 
possession  of  in  the  name  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
State. 

It  is  further  agreed,  that  if  the  French  Government  should 


18  THE  FLORIDA  TREATY,  1819. 

be  desirous  of  disposing  of  the  said  stock  to  receive  the  cap- 
ital in  Europe,  at  shorter  terms,  that  its  measures  for  that 
purpose  shall  be  taken  so  as  to  favor,  in  the  greatest  degree 
possible,  the  credit  of  the  United  States,  and  to  raise  to  the 
highest  price  the  said  stock. 

ART.  III.  It  is  agreed  that  the  dollar  of  the  United  States 
specified  in  the  present  convention,  shall  be  fixed  at  five 
and  one-third  francs,  or  five  livres  eight  sous  tournois. 

PAYMENT  OF  SUMS  DUE  BY  FRANCE  TO  CITIZENS  OF 

THE  U.  S.  RATIFIED  OCTOBER  21,  1803. 
(The   United   States   paid  20,000,000   francs    ($3,750,000)    to   its 
citizens  as  spoliation  claims  due  them  from  France). 


The  Florida  Treaty. 
February  22,  1819. 

The  Florida  Treaty  was  concluded  February  22,  1819,  ratified 
by  Spain  October  24,  1820,  and  ratified  by  the  U.  S.  Senate  February 
22,  1821. 

ARTICLE  I.  There  shall  be  a  firm  and  inviolable  peace 
and  sincere  friendship  between  the  United  States  and  their 
citizens  and  His  Catholic  Majesty,  his  successors  and  sub- 
jects, without  exception  of  persons  or  places. 

ART.  II.  His  Catholic  Majesty  cedes  to  the  United 
States,  in  full  property  and  sovereignty,  all  the  territories 
which  belong  to  him,  situated  to  the  eastward  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, known  by  the  name  of  East  and  West  Florida.  The 
adjacent  islands  dependent  on  said  provinces,  all  public  lots 
and  equares,  vacant  lands,  public  edifices,  fortifications,  bar- 
racks, and  other  buildings,  which  are  not  private  property, 
archives  and  documents,  which  relate  directly  to  the  prop- 
erty and  sovereignty  of  said  provinces,  are  included  in  this 
article.  The  said  archives  and  documents  shall  be  left  in 
possession  of  the  commissaries  or  officers  of  the  United 
States,  duly  authorized  to  receive  them. 

ART.  III.  The  boundary  line  between  the  two  countries, 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  shall  begin  on  the  Gulph  of  Mexico, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Sabine,  in  the  sea,  continuing 
north,  along  the  western  bank  of  that  river,  to  the  32d  de- 
gree of  latitude ;  thence,  by  a  line  due  north,  to  the  degree 


THE  FLORIDA  TREATY,  1819.  19 

of  latitude  where  it  strikes  the  Rio  Roxo  of  Nachitoches,  or 
Red  River ;  then  following  the  course  of  the  Rio  Noxo  west- 
ward, to  the  degree  of  longitude  100  west  from  London  and 
23  from  Washington ;  then,  crossing  the  said  Red  River, 
and  running  thence,  by  a  line  due  north,  to  the  river  Arkan- 
sas ;  thence,  following  the  course  of  the  southern  bank  of 
the  Arkansas,  to  its  source,  in  latitude  42  north,  and  thence, 
by  that  parallel  of  latitude,  to  the  South  Sea.  The  whole 
being  as  laid  down  in  Melish's  map  of  the  United  States, 
published  at  Philadelphia,  improved  to  the  first  of  January, 
1818.  But  if  the  source  of  the  Arkansas  River  shall  be 
found  to  fall  north  or  south  of  latitude  42,  then  the  line  shall 
run  from  the  said  source  due  south  or  north,  as  the  case 
may  be,  till  it  meets  the  said  parallel  of  latitude  42,  and 
thence,  along  the  said  parallel,  to  the  South  Sea:  All  the 
islands  in  the  Sabine,  and  the  said  Red  and  Arkansas  Riv- 
ers, throughout  the  course  thus'  described,  to  belong  to  the 
United  States ;  but  the  use  of  the  waters,  and  the  navigation 
of  the  Sabine  to  the  sea,  and  of  the  said  rivers  Roxo  and 
Arkansas,  throughout  the  extent  of  the  said  boundary,  on 
their  respective  banks,  shall  be  common  to  the  respective 
inhabitants  of  both  nations. 

The  two  high  contracting  parties  agree  to  cede  and  re- 
nounce all  their  rights,  claims,  and  pretensions,  to  the  ter- 
ritories described  by  the  said  line,  that  is  to  say :  The  United 
States  hereby  cede  to  His  Catholic  Majesty,  and  renounce 
forever,  all  their  rights,  claims,  and  pretensions,  to  the  ter- 
ritories lying  west  and  south  of  the  above  described  line ; 
and,  in  like  manner,  His  Catholic  Majesty  cedes  to  the  said 
United  States  all  his  rights,  claims,  and  pretensions  to  any 
territories  east  and  north  of  the  said  line,  and  for  himself, 
his  heirs,  and  successors,  renounces  all  claims  to  the  said 
territories  forever. 

ART.  V.  The  inhabitants  of  the  ceded  territories  shall  be 
secured  in  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  without  any 
restriction  ;  and  all  those  who  may  desire  to  remove  to  the 
Spanish  dominions  shall  be  permitted  to  sell  or  export  their 
effects,  at  any  time  whatever,  without  being  subject,  in 
either  case,  to  duties. 

ART.  VI.  The  inhabitants  of  the  territories  which  His 
Catholic  Majesty  cedes  to  the  United  States,  by  this  treaty, 


20  THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE,  1820. 

shall  be  incorporated  in  the  Union  of  the  United  States,  as 
soon  as  may  be  consistent  with  the  principles  of  the  Federal 
Constitution,  and  admitted  to  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  priv- 
ileges, rights,  and  immunities  of  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States. 

ART.  XI.  The  United  States,  exonerating  Spain  from  all 
demands  in  future,  on  account  of  the  claims  of  their  citizens 
to  which  the  renunciations  herein  contained  extend,  and 
considering  them  entirely  cancelled,  undertake  to  make  satis- 
faction for  the  same,  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  five  mil- 
lions of  dollars.  To  ascertain  the  full  amount  and  validity 
of  those  claims,  a  commission,  to  consist  of  three  Commis- 
sioners, citizens  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  appointed  by 
the  President,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate,  which  commission  shall  meet  at  the  city  of  Wash- 
ington, and,  within  the  space  of  three  years  from  the  time  of 
their  first  meeting,  shall  receive,  examine,  and  decide  upon 
the  amount  and  validity  of  all  the  claims  included  within 
the  descriptions  above  mentioned 

The  payment  of  such  claims  as  may  be  admitted  and  ad- 
justed by  the  said  Commissioners,  or  the  major  part  of  them, 
to  an  amount  not  exceeding  five  millions  of  dollars,  shall  be 
made  by  the  United  States,  either  immediately  at  their 
Treasury,  or  by  the  creation  of  stock,  bearing  an  interest 
of  six  per  cent,  per  annum,  payable  from  the  proceeds  of 
sales  of  public  lands  within  the  territories  hereby  ceded  to 
the  United  States,  or  in  such  other  manner  as  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  may  prescribe  by  law. 


The  Missouri  Compromise,  1820. 

The  Missouri  Compromise  was  an  amendment  offered  by  Sen- 
ator Thomas  of  Illinois,  to  the  "Act  authorizing  the  people  of  Mis- 
souri Territory  to  form  a  constitution  and  state  government."  The 
Compromise  appears  in  the  above  named  Act  as  section  8,  and  is 
given  in  full  below : 

SECTION  8.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  in  all  that 
territory  ceded  by  France  to  the  United  States,  under  the 
name  of  Louisiana,  which  lies  north  of  thirty-six  degrees 
and  thirty  minutes  north  latitude,  not  included  within  the 


MONROE  DOCTRINE,  1823.  21 

limits  of  the  state,  contemplated  by  this  act,  slavery  and  in- 
voluntary servitude,  otherwise  than  in  the  punishment  of 
crimes,  whereof  the  parties  shall  have  been  duly  convicted, 
shall  be,  and  is  hereby,  forever  prohibited :  Provided  always, 
That  any  person  escaping  into  the  same,  from  whom  labour 
or  service  is  lawfully  claimed,  in  any  state  or  territory  of 
the  United  States,  such  fugitive  may  be  lawfully  reclaimed 
and  conveyed  to  the  person  claiming  his  or  her  labour  or 
service  as  aforsaid. 


Monroe  Doctrine,  Dec.  2,  1823. 

In  1821  Russia  asserted  claims  to  all  territory  on  the  Pacific 
Coast  north  of  51  degrees  north  latitude,  and  founded  a  colony  as 
far  south  as  California,  and  apparently  had  in  view  the  exclusion  of 
the  United  States  from  the  Pacific  Coast. 

The  Spanish  colonies  of  Mexico  and  South  America  rebelled 
against  Spanish  authority,  beginning  as  early  as  1810,  formed  re- 
publics and  in  1822  were  acknowledged  by  the  United  States  as  free 
and  independent  powers. 

In  1815  the  Holy  Alliance  was  formed  in  Europe  for  the  purpose 
of  maintaining  monarchial  governments  as  opposed  to  the  growing 
tendency  for  republics.  In  1823  France  with  the  sanction  of  the 
Holy  Alliance,  had  restored  Ferdinand  VII,  of  Spain  to  his  throne. 
Another  meeting  of  the  allied  powers  was  proposed  to  consider  the 
restoration  of  Spanish  authority  over  her  revolted  colonies. 

James  Monroe  discussed  these  questions  in  his  annual  message 
to  Congress  December  2,  1823,  in  relation  of  the  United  States  with 
Russia,  Spain,  and  the  Spanish-American  colonies,  and  stated  what 
has  since  become  known  as  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 

At  the  proposal  of  the  Russian  imperial  government,  made 
through  the  minister  of  the  Emperor  residing  here,  a  full 
power  and  instructions  have  been  transmitted  to  the  Min- 
ister of  the  United  States  at  St.  Petersburgh,  to  arrange,  by 
amicable  negotiation,  the  respective  rights  and  interests  of 
the  two  nations  on  the  northwest  coast  of  this  continent. 
A  similar  proposal  had  been  made  by  his  Imperial  Majesty 
to  the  government  of  Great  Britain,  which  has  likewise  been 
acceded  to.  The  government  of  the  United  States  has  been 
desirous,  by  this  friendly  proceeding,  of  manifesting  the 
great  value  which  they  have  invariably  attached  to  the 
friendship  of  the  Emperor,  and  their  solicitude  to  cultivate 
the  best  understanding  with  his  government.  In  the  dis- 
cussions to  which  this  interest  has  given  rise,  and  in  the  ar- 


22  MONROE  DOCTRINE,  1823. 

rangements  by  which  they  may  terminate,  the  occasion  has 
been  judged  proper  for  asserting,  as  a  principle  in  which 
the  rights  and  interests  of  the  United  States  are  involved, 
that  the  American  continents,  by  the  free  and  independent 
condition  which  they  have  assumed  and  maintain,  are  hence- 
forth not  to  be  considered  as  subjects  for  future  colonisa- 
tion by  any  European  pozvers 

In  the  wars  of  the  European  powers,  in  matters  relating 
to  themselves,  we  have  never  taken  any  part,  nor  does  it 
comport  with  our  policy  so  to  do.  It  is  only  when  our  rights 
are  invaded,  or  seriously  menaced,  that  we  resent  injuries, 
or  make  preparation  for  our  defence.  With  the  movements 
in  this  hemisphere,  we  are.  of  necessity,  more  immediately 
connected,  and  by  causes  which  must  be  obvious  to  all  en- 
lightened and  impartial  observers.  The  political  system  of 
the  allied  powers  is  essentially  different,  in  this  respect, 
from  that  of  America.  This  difference  proceeds  from  that 
which  exists  in  their  respective  governments.  And  to  the 
defence  of  our  own,  which  has  been  achieved  by  the  loss 
of  so  much  blood  and  treasure,  and  matured  by  the  wisdom 
of  their  most  enlightened  citizens,  and  under  which  we  have 
enjoyed  unexampled  felicity,  this  whole  nation  is  devoted. 
We  owe  it,  therefore,  to  candor,  and  to  the  amicable  rela- 
tions existing  between  the  United  States  and  those  powers, 
to  declare,  that  we  should  consider  any  attempt  on  their  part 
to  extend  their  system  to  any  portion  of  this  hemisphere,  as 
dangerous  to  our  peace  and  safety.  With  the  existing  col- 
onies or  dependencies  of  any  European  power,  we  have  not 
interfered,  and  shall  not  interfere.  But  with  the  govern- 
ments who  have  declared  their  independence,  and  main- 
tained it,  and  whose  independence  we  have,  on  great  con- 
sideration, and  on  just  principles,  acknowledged,  we  could 
not  view  any  interposition  for  the  purpose  of  oppressing 
them,  or  controlling,  in  any  other  manner,  their  destiny,  by 
any  European  power,  in  any  other  light  than  as  the  mani- 
festation of  an  unfriendly  disposition  towards  the  United 

States Our  policy,  in  regard  to  Europe,  which  was 

adopted  at  an  early  stage  of  the  wars  which  have  so  long 
agitated  that  quarter  of  the  globe,  nevertheless  remains  the 
same,  which  is,  not  to  interfere  in  the  internal  concerns  of 
any  of  its  powers;  to  consider  the  government  de  facto  as 
the  legitimate  government  for  us ;  to  cultivate  friendly  re- 


JOINT  RESOLUTION  ANNEXING  TEXAS,  1845.         23 

lations  with  it,  and  to  preserve  those  relations  by  a  frank, 
firm,  and  manly  policy;  meeting,  in  all  instances,  the  just 
claims  of  every  power;  submitting  to  injuries  from  none. 
But,  in  regard  to  these  continents,  circumstances  are  emin- 
ently and  conspicuously  different.  It  is  impossible  that  the 
allied  poivers  should  extend  their  political  system  to  any 
portion  of  either  continent,  ^vithout  endangering  our  peace 
and  happiness?,  nor  can  any  one  believe  that  our  Southern 
Brethren,  if  left  to  themselves,  would  adopt  it  of  their  own 
accord.  It  is  equally  impossible,  therefore,  that  we  should 
behold  such  interposition,  in  any  form,  with  indifference.  If 
we  look  to  the  comparative  strength  and  resources  of  Spain 
and  those  new  governments,  and  their  distance  from  each 
other,  it  must  be  obvious  that  she  can  never  subdue  them. 
It  is  still  the  true  policy  of  the  United  States  to  leave  the 
parties  to  themselves,  in  the  hope  that  other  powers  will 
pursue  the  same  course. 


Joint  Resolution  Annexing  Texas  to  the  United  States. 
March    1,    1845. 

Mexico  separated  from  Spain  1821,  and  became  a  republic.  1835 
Texas  seceded  from  Mexico  and  became  a  republic  in  1836.  The 
same  year  Texas  applied  for  admission  to  the  United  States,  but 
was  refused.  In  1844  the  Democratic  party  declared  in  their  na- 
tional platform  in  favor  of  the  reannexation  of  Texas  and  the  re-' 
occupation  of  all  of  Oregon.  The  former  caught  the  vote  in  the 
South ;  the  latter,  was  popular  in  the  North.  Polk  was  elected. 
The  Oregon  question  was  compromised.  The  resolution  for  annex- 
ing Texas  was  passed  March  i,  1845,  the  resolution  admitting  her  to 
state-hood  was  passed  December  29,  1845. 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That 
Congress  doth  consent  that  the  territory  properly  included 
within,  and  rightfully  belonging  to  the  Republic  of  Texas, 
may  be  erected  into  a  new  State,  to  be  called  the  State  of 
Texas,  with  a  republican  form  of  government,  to  be  adopted 
by  the  people  of  said  republic,  by  deputies  in  convention  as- 
sembled, with  the  consent  of  the  existing  government,  in 
order  that  the  same  may  be  admitted  as  one  of  the  States  of 
this  Union. 

2.    And  be  it  further  resolved,  That  the  foregoing  consent 


24        JOINT  RESOLUTION  ANNEXING  TEXAS,  1845. 

of  Congress  is  given  upon  the  following  conditions,  and 
with  the  following  guarantees,  to  wit:  First,  Said  State  to 
be  formed,  subject  to  the  adjustment  by  this  government  of 
all  questions  of  boundary  that  may  arise  with  other  gov- 
ernments ;  and  the  constitution  thereof,  with  the  proper  evi- 
dence of  its  adoption  by  the  people  of  said  Republic  of 
Texas,  shall  be  transmitted  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  to  be  laid  before  Congress  for  its  final  action,  on  or 
before  the  first  day  of  January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  forty-six.  Second.  Said  State,  when  admitted  into  the 
Union,  after  ceding  to  the  United  States,  all  public  edifices, 
fortifications,  barracks,  ports  and  harbors,  navy  and  navy- 
yards,  docks,  magazines,  arms,  armaments,  and  all  other 
property  and  means  pertaining  to  the  public  defence  belong- 
ing to  said  Republic  of  Texas,  shall  retain  all  the  public 
funds,  debts,  taxes,  and  dues  of  every  kind,  which  may  be- 
long to  or  be  due  and  owing  said  republic ;  and  shall  also 
retain  all  the  vacant  and  unappropriated  lands  lying  within 
its  limits,  to  be  applied  to  the  payment  of  the  debts  and  lia- 
bilities of  said  Republic  of  Texas,  and  the  residue  of  said 
lands,  after  discharging  said  debts  and  liabilities,  to  be  dis- 
posed of  as  said  States  may  direct ;  but  in  no  event  are  said 
debts  and  liabilities  to  become  a  charge  upon  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States.  Third.  New  States,  of  conven- 
ient size,  not  exceeding  four  in  number,  in  addition  to  said 
State  of  Texas,  and  having  sufficient  population,  may  here- 
after, by  the  consent  of  said  State,  be  formed  out  of  the 
territory  thereof,  which  shall  be  entitled  to  admission  un- 
der the  provisions  of  the  federal  constitution.  And  such 
States  as  may  be  formed  out  of  that  portion  of  said  territory 
lying  south  of  thirty-six  degrees  thirty  minutes  north  lati- 
tude, commonly  known  as  the  Missouri  compromise  line, 
shall  be  admitted  into  the  Union  with  or  without  slavery,  as 
the  people  of  each  State  asking  admission  may  desire.  And 
in  such  State  or  States  as  shall  be  formed  out  of  said  ter- 
ritory north  of  said  Missouri  compromise  line,  slavery,  or 
involuntary  servitude,  (except  for  crime,)  shall  be  prohi- 
bited. 

3.  And  be  it  further  resolved,  That  if  the  President  of 
the  United  States  shall  in  his  judgment  and  discretion  deem 
it  most  advisable,  instead  of  proceeding  to  submit  the  fore- 
going resolution  to  the  Republic  of  Texas,  as  an  overture 


COMPROMISE  OF  1850.  25 

on  the  part  of  the  United  States  for  admission,  to  negotiate 
with  that  Republic ;  then, 

Be  it  enacted,  That  a  State,  to  be  formed  out  of  the  pres- 
ent Republic  of  Texas,  with  suitable  extent  and  boundaries, 
and  with  two  representatives  in  Congress,  until  the  next 
apportionment  of  representation,  shall  be  admitted  into  the 
Union,  by  virtue  of  this  act,  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  ex- 
isting States,  as  soon  as  the  terms  and  conditions  of  such 
admission,  and  the  cession  of  the  remaining  Texan  terri- 
tory to  the  United  States  shall  be  agreed  upon  by  the  Gov- 
ernments of  Texas  and  the  United  States :  And  that  the  sum 
of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby, 
appropriated  to  defray  the  expenses  of  missions  and  negotia- 
tions, to  agree  upon  the  terms  of  said  admission  and  ces- 
sion, either  by  treaty  to  be  submitted  to  the  Senate,  or  by 
articles  to  be  submitted  to  the  two  houses  of  Congress,  as 
the  President  may  direct. 


Compromise  of  1850. 

Henry  Clay  submitted  a  series  of  resolutions,  January  2g,  1850, 
to  the  United  States  Senate,  as  a  basis  for  adjustment  of  differ- 
ences on  the  slavery  question,  pertaining  both  to  the  newly  acquired 
territory  from  Mexico  and  to  other  slave  issues  causing  friction  be- 
tween the  North  and  South.  These  resolutions  were  referred  to  a 
select  committee  of  thirteen  of  which  Clay  was  chairman.  The 
committee  submitted  its  report  May  8th.  From  this  report  were 
prepared  the  Acts  which  have  since  borne  the  name  of  the  Com- 
promise of  1850.  The  following  are  extracts. 

EXTRACT  FROM  UTAH  ACT  SEPTEMBER  9,  1850. 

An  Act  to  establish  a  Territorial  Government  for  Utah. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled, 
That  all  that  part  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States  in- 
cluded within  the  following  limits,  to  wit:  bounded  on  the 
west  by  the  State  of  California,  on  the  north  by  the  Terri- 
tory of  Oregon,  and  on  the  east  by  the  summit  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  on  the  south  by  the  thirty-seventh  parallel 
of  north  latitude,  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby,  created  into  a 
temporary  government,  by  the  name  of  the  Territory  of 
Utah;  and,  when  admitted  as  a  State,  the  said  Territory, 
or  any  portion  of  the  same,  shall  be  received  into  the  Union 


26  COMPROMISE  OF  1850. 

with  or  without  slavery,  as  their  constitution  may  prescribe 
at  the  time  of  their  admission :  Provided,  That  nothing  in 
this  act  contained  shall  be  construed  to  inhibit  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  from  dividing  said  Territory  into 
two  or  more  Territories,  in  such  manner  and  at  such  times 
as  Congress  shall  deem  convenient  and  proper,  or  from  at- 
taching any  portion  of  said  Territory  to  any  other  State  or 
Territory  of  the  United  State.  .  .  . 

EXTRACT  FROM  TEXAS  AND  NEW  MEXICO  ACT, 
SEPTEMBER  9,  1850. 

An  Act  proposing  to  the  State  of  Texas  the  Establishment 
of  her  Northern  and  Western  Boundaries,  the  Relinquish- 
in  cnt  by  the  said  State  of  all  Territory  claimed  by  her  ex- 
terior to  said  Boundaries,  and  of  all  her  claims  upon  the 
United  States,  and  to  establish  a  territorial  Government 
for  New  Mexico. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled, 
That  the  following  propositions  shall  be,  and  the  same  here- 
by are,  offered  to  the  State  of  Texas,  which,  when  agreed 
to  by  the  said  State,  in  an  act  passed  by  the  general  assem- 
bly, shall  be  binding  and  obligatory,  upon  the  United  States, 
and  upon  the  said  State  of  Texas :  Provided,  The  said  agree- 
ment by  the  said  general  assembly  shall  be  given  on  or  be- 
fore the  first  day  of  December,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty: 
FIRST.  The  State  of  Texas  will  agree  that  her  boundary 
on  the  north  shall  commence  at  the  point  at  which  the  meri- 
dian of  one  hundred  degrees  west  from  Greenwich  is  in- 
tersected by  the  parallel  of  thirty-six  degrees  thirty  minutes 
north  latitude,  and  shall  run  from  said  point  due  west  to 
the  meridian  of  one  hundred  and  three  degrees  west  from 
Greenwich ;  thence  her  boundary  shall  run  due  south  to  the 
thirty-second  degree  of  north  latitude ;  thence  on  the  said 
parallel  of  thirty-two  degrees  of  north  latitude  to  the  Rio 
Bravo  del  Xorte,  and  thence  with  the  channel  of  said  river 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

SECOND.  The  State  of  Texas  cedes  to  the  United  States 
all  her  claim  to  territory  exterior  to  the  limits  and  bound- 
aries which  she  agrees  to  establish  by  the  first  article  of  this 
agreement. 

THIRD.     The  State  of  Texas  relinquishes  all  claim  upon 


COMPROMISE  OF  1850.  27 

the  United  States  for  liability  of  the  debts  of  Texas,  and  for 
compensation  or  indemnity  for  the  surrender  to  the  United 
States  of  her  ships,  forts,  arsenals,  custom-houses,  custom- 
house revenue,  arms  and  munitions  of  war,  and  public  build- 
ings with  their  sites,  which  became  the  property  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  at  the  time  of  the  annexation. 

FOURTH.  The  United  States,  in  consideration  of  said 
establishment  of  boundaries,  cession  of  claim  to  territory, 
and  relinquishment  of  claims,  will  pay  to  the  State  of  Texas 
the  sum  of  ten  millions  of  dollars  in  a  stock  bearing  five 
per  cent,  interest,  and  redeemable  at  the  end  of  fourteen 
years,  the  interest  payable  half-yearly  at  the  treasury  of  the 

United  States. 

*  #  *  *  *  *  * 

SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  that  portion 
of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States  bounded  as  follows: 
Beginning  at  a  point  in  the  Colorado  River  where  the 
boundary  line  with  the  republic  of  Mexico  crosses  the  same ; 
thence  eastwardly  with  the  said  boundary  line  to  the  Rio 
Grande ;  thence  following  the  main  channel  of  said  river  to 
the  parallel  of  the  thirty-second  degree  of  north  latitude ; 
thence  east  with  said  degree  of  longitude  west  of  Green- 
wich :  thence  north  with  said  degree  of  longitude  to  the 
parallel  of  thirty-eighth  degree  of  north  latitude ;  thence 
west  with  said  parallel  to  the  summit  of  the  Sierra  Madre ; 
thence  south  with  the  crest  of  said  mountains  to  the  thirty- 
seventh  parallel  of  north  latitude ;  thence  west  with  said 
parallel  to  its  intersection  with  the  boundary  line  of  the 
State  of  California;  thence  with  said  boundary  line  to  the 
place  of  beginning — be,  and  the  same  is  hereby,  erected  into 
a  temporary  government,  by  the  name  of  the  Territory  of 
New  Mexico :  Provided,  That  nothing  in  this  act  contained 
shall  be  construed  to  inhibit  the  government  of  the  United 
States  from  dividing  said  Territory  into  two  or  more  Ter- 
ritories, in  such  manner  and  at  such  times  as  Congress  shall 
deem  convenient  and  proper,  or  from  attaching  any  portion 
thereof  to  any  other  Territory  or  State:  And  provided,  fur- 
ther, That,  when  admitted  as  a  State,  the  said  Territory,  or 
any  portion  of  the  same,  shall  be  received  into  the  Union 
with  or  without  slavery,  as  their  constitution  may  prescribe 
at  the  time  of  their  admission. 


28  COMPROMISE  OF  1850. 

FUGITIVE  SLAVE  ACT,  SEPTEMBER  18,  1850. 
An  Act  to  amend,  and  supplementary  to,  the  Act  entitled 
"An  Act  respecting  Fugitives  from  Justice,  and  Persons 
escaping  from  the  Service  of  their  Masters,"  approved 
February  tzvelfth,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
ninety-three. 

SECTION  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  be 
the  duty  of  all  marshals  and  deputy  marshals  to  obey  and 
execute  all  warrants  and  precepts  issued  under  the  provi- 
sions of  this  act,  when  to  them  directed;  and  should  any 
marshal  or  deputy  marshal  refuse  to  receive  such  warrant, 
or  other  process,  when  tendered,  or  to  use  all  proper  means 
diligently  to  execute  the  same,  he  shall,  on  conviction  there- 
of, be  fined  in  the  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars,  to  the  use 
of  such  claimant,  on  the  motion  of  such  claimant,  by  the 
Circuit  or  District  Court  for  the  district  of  such  marshal ; 
and  after  arrest  of  such  fugutive,  by  such  marshal  or  his 
deputy,  or  whilst  at  any  time  in  his  custody  under  the  provi- 
sions of  this  act,  should  such  fugitive  escape,  whether  with 
or  without  the  assent  of  such  marshal  or  his  deputy,  such 
marshal  shall  be  liable,  on  his  official  bond,  to  be  prosecuted 
for  the  benefit  of  such  claimant,  for  the  full  value  of  the 
the  service  or  labor  of  said  fugitive  in  the  State,  Territory, 
or  District  whence  he  escaped :  and  the  better  to  enable  the 
'said  commissioners,  when  thus  appointed,  to  execute  their 
duties  faithfully  and  efficiently,  in  conformity  with  the  re- 
quirements of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  of 
this  act,  they  are  hereby  authorized  and  empowered,  within 
their  counties  respectively,  to  appoint,  in  writing  under  their 
hands,  any  one  or  more  suitable  persons,  from  time  to  time, 
to  execute  all  such  warrants  and  other  process  as  may  be 
issued  by  them  in  the  lawful  performance  of  their  respective 
duties ;  with  authority  to  such"  commissioners,  or  the  per- 
sons to  be  appointed  by  them,  to  execute  process  as  afore- 
said, to  summon  and  call  to  their  aid  the  bystanders,  or 
pose  comitatus  of  the  proper  county,  when  necessary  to  en- 
sure a  faithful  observance  of  the  clause  of  the  Constitution 
referred  to,  in  conformity  with  the  provisions  of  this  act; 
and  all  good  citizens  are  hereby  commanded  to  aid  and  as- 
sist in  the  prompt  and  efficient  execution  of  this  law,  when- 
ever their  services  may  be  required,  as  aforesaid,  for  that 
purpose ;  and  said  warrants  shall  run,  and  be  executed  by 


COMPROMISE  OF  1850.  29 

said  officers,  anywhere  in  the  State  within  which  they  are 
issued. 

SEC..  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  when  a  person 
held  to  service  or  labor  in  any  State  or  Territory  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  has  heretofore  or  shall  hereafter  escape  into  an- 
other State  or  Territory  of  the  United  States,  the  person  or 
persons  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be  due,  or  his, 
her,  or  their  agent  or  attorney,  duly  authorized,  by  power 
of  attorney,  in  writing,  acknowledged  and  certified  under 
the  seal  of  some  legal  officer  or  court  of  the  State  or  Terri- 
tory in  which  the  same  may  be  executed,  may  pursue  and  re- 
claim such  fugitive  person,  either  by  procuring  a  warrant 
from  some  one  of  the  courts,  judges,  or  commissioners 
aforesaid,  of  the  proper  circuit,  district,  or  county,  for  the 
apprehension  of  such  fugitive  from  service  or  labor,  or  by 
seizing  and  arresting  such  fugitive,  where  the  same  can  be 
done  without  process,  and  by  taking,  or  causing  such  per- 
son to  be  taken,  forthwith  before  such  court,  judge,  or  com- 
missioner, whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  hear  and  determine  the 
case  of  such  claimant, in  a  summary  manner;  and  upon  satis- 
factory proof  being  made,  by  deposition  or  affidavit,  in  writ- 
ing, to  be  taken  and  certified  by  such  court,  judge,  or  com- 
missioner, or  by  other  satisfactory  testimony,  duly  taken 
and  certified  by  some  court,  magistrate,  justice  of  the  peace, 
or  other  legal  officer  authorized  to  administer  an  oath  and 
take  depositions  under  the  laws  of  the  State  or  Territory 
from  which  such  person  owing  service  or  labor  may  have 
escaped,  with  a  certificate  of  such  magistracy  or  other  au- 
thority, as  aforesaid,  with  the  seal  of  the  proper  court  or 
officer  thereto  attached,  which  seal  shall  be  sufficient  to  es- 
tablish the  competency  of  the  proof,  and  with  proof,  also  by 
affidavit,  of  the  identity  of  the  person  whose  service  or  labor 
is  claimed  to  be  due  as  aforesaid,  that  the  person  so  arrested 
does  in  fact  owe  service  or  labor  to  the  person  or  persons 
claiming  him  or  her,  in  the  State  or  Territory  from  which 
such  fugitive  may  have  escaped  as  aforesaid,  and  that  said 
person  escaped,  to  make  out  and  deliver  to  such  claimant, 
his  or  her  agent  or  attorney,  a  certificate  setting  forth  the 
substantial  facts  as  to  the  service  or  labor  due  from  such 
fugitive  to  the  claimant,  and  of  his  or  her  escape  from  the 
State  or  Territory  in  which  he  or  she  was  arrested,  with 
authority  to  such  claimant,,  or  his  or  her  agent  or  attorney, 


30  COMPROMISE  OF  1850. 

to  use  such  reasonable  force  and  restraint  as  may  be  nec- 
essary, under  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  to  take  and  re- 
move such  fugitive  person  back  to  the  State  or  Territory 
whence  he  or  she  may  have  escaped  as  aforesaid.  In  no 
trial  or  hearing-  under  this  act  shall  the  testimony  of  such 
alleged  fugitive  be  admitted  in  evidence ;  and  the  certificates 
in  this  and  the  first  (fourth)  section  mentioned,  shall  be 
conclusive  of  the  right  of  the  person  or  persons  in  whose 
favor  granted,  to  remove  such  fugitive  to  the  State  or  Ter- 
ritory from  which  he  escaped,  and  shall  prevent  all  molesta- 
tion of  such  person  or  persons  by  any  process  issued  by  any 
court,  judge,  magistrate,  or  other  person  whomsoever. 

SEC.  7.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  any  person  who 
shall  knowingly  and  willingly  obstruct,  hinder,  or  prevent 
such  claimant,  his  agent  or  attorney,  or  any  person  or  per- 
sons lawfully  assisting  him,  her,  or  them,  from  arresting 
such  a  fugitive  from  service  or  labor,  either  with  or  with- 
out process  as  aforesaid,  or  shall  rescue,  or  attempt  to  res- 
cue, such  fugitive  from  service  or  labor,  from  the  custody 
of  such  claimant,  his  or  her  agent  or  attorney,  or  other  per- 
son or  persons  lawfully  assisting  as  aforesaid,  when  so  ar- 
rested, pursuant  to  the  authority  herein  given  and  declared ; 
or  shall  aid,  abet,  or  assist  such  person  so  owing  service  or 
labor  as  aforesaid,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  escape  from  such 
claimant,  his  agent  or  attorney,  or  other  person  or  persons 
legally  authorized  as  aforesaid ;  or  shall  harbor  or  conceal 
such  fugitive,  so  as  to  prevent  the  discovery  and  arrest  of 
such  person,  after  notice  or  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  such 
person  was  a  fugitive  from  service  or  labor  as  aforesaid, 
shall,  for  either  of  said  offences,  be  subject  to  a  fine  not  ex- 
ceeding one  thousand  dollars,  and  imprisonment  not  ex- 
ceeding six  months,  by  indictment  and  conviction  before  the 
District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  district  in  which 
such  offence  may  have  been  committed,  or  before  the  proper 
court  of  criminal  jurisdiction,  if  committed  within  any  one 
of  the  organized  Territories  of  the  United  States ;  and  shall 
moreover  forfeit  and  pay,  by  way  of  civil  damages  to  the 
party  injured  by  such  illegal  conduct,  the  sum  of  one  thou- 
sand dollars,  for  each  fugitive  so  lost  as  aforesaid,  to  be  re- 
covered by  action  of  debt,  in  any  of  the  District  or  Terri- 
torial Courts  aforesaid,  within  whose  jurisdictian  the  said 
offence  mav  have  been  committed. 


COMPROMISE  OF  1850.  31 

(SEC.  8  relates  to  fees  for  services  under  the  act.) 
SEC.  9.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That,  upon  affidavit 
made  by  the  claimant  of  such  fugitive,  his  agent  or  attorney, 
after  such  certificate  has  been  issued,  that  he  has  reason  to 
apprehend  that  such  fugitive  will  be  rescued  by  force  from 
his  or  their  possession  before  he  can  be  taken  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  State  in  which  the  arrest  is  made,  it  shall  be 
the  duty  of  the  office  making  the  arrest  to  retain  such  fug- 
itive in  his  custody,  and  to  remove  him  to  the  State  whence 
he  fled,  and  there  to  deliver  him  to  said  claimant,  his  agent, 
or  attorney.  And  to  this  end,  the  officer  aforesaid  is  hereby 
authorized  and  required  to  employ  so  many  persons  as  he 
may  deem  necessary  to  overcome  such  force,  and  to  retain 
them  in  his  service  so  long  as  circumstances  may  require. 
The  said  officer  and  his  assistants,  while  so  employed,  to 
receive  the  same  compensation,  and  to  be  allowed  the  same 
expenses,  as  are  now  allowed  by  law  for  transportation  of 
criminals,  to  be  certified  by  the  judge  of  the  district  within 
which  the  arrest  is  made,  and  paid  out  of  the  treasury  of  the 
United  States. 

SEC.  10.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  when  any  per- 
son held  to  service  or  labor  in  any  State  or  Territory,  or  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  shall  escape  therefrom,  the  party 
to  whom  such  service  or  labor  shall  be  due,  his,  her,  or  their 
agent  or  attorney,  may  apply  to  any  court  of  record  therein, 
or  judge  thereof  in  vacation,  and  make  satisfactory  proof  to 
such  court,  or  judge  in  vacation,  of  the  escape  aforesaid, 
and  that  the  person  escaping  owed  service  or  labor  to  such 
party.  Whereupon  the  court  shall  cause  a  record  to  be 
made  of  the  matters  so  proved,  and  also  a  general  descrip- 
tion of  the  person  so  escaping,  with  such  convenient  cer- 
tainty as  may  be ;  and  a  transcript  of  such  record,  authenti- 
cated by  the  attestation  of  the  clerk  and  of  the  seal  of  the 
said  court,  being  produced  in  any  other  State,  Territory,  or 
district  in  which  the  person  so  escaping  may  be  found,  and 
being  exhibited  to  any  judge,  commsisioner,  or  other  officer 
authorized  by  the  law  of  the  United  States  to  cause  persons 
escaping  from  service  or  labor  to  be  delivered  up,  shall  be 
held  and  taken  to  be  full  and  conclusive  evidence  of  the  fact 
of  escape,  and  that  the  service  or  labor  of  the  person  escap- 
ing is  due  to  the  party  in  such  record  mentioned.  And  upon 
the  production  by  the  said  party  of  other  and  further  evi- 


32  COMPROMISE  OF  1850. 

dence  if  necessary,  either  oral  or  by  affidavit,  in  addition  to 
what  is  contained  in  the  said  record  of  the  identity  of  the 
person  escaping,  he  or  she  shall  be  delivered  up  to  the  claim- 
ant. And  the  said  court,  commissioner,  judge,  or  other  per- 
son authorized  by  this  act  to  grant  certificates  to  claimants 
of  fugitives,  shall,  upon  the  production  of  the  record  and 
other  evidences  aforesaid,  grant  to  such  claimant  a  certi- 
ficate of  his  right  to  take  any  such  person  identified  and 
proved  to  be  owing  service  or  labor  as  aforesaid,  which 
certificate  shall  authorize  such  claimant  to  seize  or  arrest 
and  transport  such  person  to  the  State  or  Territory  from 
which  he  escaped :  Provided,  That  nothing  herein  contained 
shall  be  construed  as  requiring  the  production  of  a  tran- 
script of  such  record  as  evidence  as  aforesaid.  But  in  its 
absence  the  claim  shall  be  heard  and  determined  upon  other 
satisfactory  proofs,  competent  in  law. 

ACT  ABOLISHING  SLAVE  TRADE  IN  THE  DISTRICT  OF 
COLUMBIA,  SEPTEMBER  20,  1850. 

An  Act  to  suppress  the  Slave  Trade  in  the  District  of  Col- 
umbia. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled, 
That  from  and  after  the  first  day  of  January,  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  fifty-one,  it  shall  not  be  lawful  to  bring  into  the 
District  of  Columbia  any  slave  whatever,  for  the  purpose  of 
being  sold,  or  for  the  purpose  of  being  placed  in  depot,  to 
be  subsequently  transferred  to  any  other  State  or  place  to 
be  sold  as  merchandize.  And  if  any  slave  shall  be  brought 
into  the  said  District  by  its  owner,  or  by  the  authority  or 
consent  of  its  owner,  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  this  act, 
such  slave  shall  thereupon  become  liberated  and  free. 

SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  and  may 
be  lawful  for  each  of  the  corporations  of  the  cities  of  Wash- 
ington and  Georgetown,  from  time  to  time,  and  as  often  as 
may  be  necessary,  to  abate,  break  up,  and  abolish  any  depot 
or  place  of  confinement  of  slaves  brought  into  the  said  Dis- 
trict as  merchandize,  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  this  act, 
by  such  appropriate  means  as  may  appear  to  either  of  the 
said  corporations  expedient  and  proper.  And  the  same  pow- 
er is  hereby  vested  in  the  Levy  Court  of  Washington  coun- 
ty, if  any  attempt  shall  be  made,  within  its  jurisdictional 


EXTRACT  FROM  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  ACT,  1854.        33 

limits,  to  establish  a  depot  or  place  of  confinement  for  slaves 
brought  into  the  said  District  as  merchandize  for  sale  con- 
trary to  this  act. 


Extract  from  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act,  May  30,  1854. 

An  Act  to  Organize  the  Territory  of  Nebraska  and  Kansas. 
Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled, 
That  all  that  part  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States  in- 
cluded within  the  following  limits,  except  such  portions 
thereof  as  are  hereinafter  expressly  exempted  from  the 
operations  of  this  act,  to  wit:  beginning  at  a  point  in  the 
Missouri  River  where  the  fortieth  parallel  of  north  latitude 
crosses  the  same ;  thence  west  on  said  parallel  to  the  east 
boundary  of  the  Territory  of  Utah,  on  the  summit  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains ;  thence  on  said  summit  northward  to  the 
forty-ninth  parallel  of  north  latitude;  thence  east  on  said 
parallel  to  the  western  boundary  of  the  territory  of  Minne- 
sota ;  thence  southward  on  said  boundary  to  the  Missouri 
River ;  thence  down  the  main  channel  of  said  river  to  the 
place  of  beginning,  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby,  created  into 
a  temporary  government  by  the  name  of  the  Territory  of 
Nebraska ;  and  when  admitted  as  a  State  or  States,  the  said 
Territory,  or  any  portion  of  the  same,  shall  be  received  into 
the  Union  with  or  without  slavery,  as  their  constitution  may 
prescribe  at  the  time  of  their  admission :  .  .  . 

SECTION  10.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  provi- 
sions of  an  act  entitled  "An  act  respecting  fugitives  from 
justice,  and  persons  escaping  from  the  service  of  their  mas- 
ters," approved  February  twelve,  seventeen  hundred  and 
ninety-three,  and  the  provisions  of  the  act  entitled  "An  act 
to  amend,  and  supplementary  to,  the  aforesaid  act,"  ap- 
proved September  eighteen,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty,  be, 
and  the  same  are  hereby,  declared  to  extend  to  and  be  in 
full  force  within  the  limits  of  said  Territory  of  Nebraska. 

*  >(:  ^c  *  *  >K  * 

SEC.  14.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  .  .  .  That  the  Con- 
stitution, and  all  laws  of  the  United  States  which  are  not 
locally  inapplicable,  shall  have  the  same  force  and  effect 


34        EXTRACT  FROM  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  ACT,  1854. 

within  the  said  Territory  of  Nebraska  as  elsewhere  within 
the  United  States,  except  the  eighth  section  of  the  act  pre- 
paratory to  the  admission  of  Missouri  into  the  Union,  ap- 
proved March  sixth,  eighteen  hundred  and  twenty,  which, 
being  inconsistent  with  the  principle  of  non-intervention  by 
Congress  with  slavery  in  the  States  and  Territories,  as  re- 
cognized by  the  legislation  of  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty, 
commonly  called  the  Compromise  Measures,  is  hereby  de- 
clared inoperative  and  void ;  it  being  the  true  intent  and 
meaning  of  this  act  not  to  legislate  slavery  into  any  Terri- 
tory or  State,  nor  to  exclude  it  therefrom,  but  to  leave  the 
people  thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate  their 
domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject  only  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States :  Provided,  That  nothing 
herein  contained  shall  be  construed  to  revive  or  put  in  force 
any  law  or  regulation  which  may  have  existed  prior  to  the 
act  of  sixth  March,  eighteen  hundred  and  twenty,  either 
protecting,  establishing,  prohibiting,  or  abolishing  slavery. 

SEC.  19.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  that  part  of 
of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States  included  within  the 
following  limits,  except  such  portions  thereof  as  are  herein- 
after expressly  exempted  from  the  operations  of  this  act, 
to  wit.  beginning  at  a  point  on  the  western  boundary  of  the 
State  of  Missouri,  where  the  thirty-seventh  parallel  of  north 
latitude  crosses  the  same ;  thence  west  on  said  parallel  to 
the  eastern  boundary  of  New  Mexico;  thence  north  on  said 
boundary  to  latitude  thirty-eight ;  thence  following  said 
boundary  westward  to  the  east  boundary  of  the  Territory 
of  Utah,  on  the  summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountains ;  thence 
northward  on  said  summit  to  the  fortieth  parallel  of  lati- 
tude ;  thence  east  on  said  parallel  to  the  western  boundary 
of  the  State  of  Missouri ;  thence  south  with  the  western 
boundary  of  said  State  to  the  place  of  beginning,  be,  and 
the  same  is  hereby,  created  into  a  temporary  government  by 
the  name  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas ;  and  when  admitted 
as  a  State  or  States,  the  said  Territory,  or  any  portion  of 
the  same,  shall  be  received  into  the  Union  with  or  without 
slaver}-,  as  their  Constitution  may  prescribe  at  the  time  of 
their  admission :  .  .  . 

(Sections  28  and  32  apply  to  Kansas  Territory  as  sections  10  and 
14  do  to  Nebraska.) 


ACT  ABOLISHING  SLAVERY  IN  THE  TERRITORIES,  1862.     35 

An  Act  Abolishing  Slavery  in  the  Territories,  June  19,  1862. 

An  Act  to  secure  Freedom  to  all  Persons  within  the  Terri- 
tories of  the  United  States. 

Be  it  enacted  .  .  .,  That  from  and  after  the  passage  of 
this  act  there  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servi- 
tude in  any  of  the  Territories  of  the  United  States  now  ex- 
isting, or  which  may  at  any  time  hereafter  be  formed  or  ac- 
quired by  the  United  States,  otherwise  than  in  punishment 
of  crimes  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted. 

APPROVED,  June  19,  1862. 

(An  Act  abolishing  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  was 
passed  April  16,  1862,  and  authorized  June  19,  1862.) 


Emancipation  Proclamation. 

President  Lincoln  read  a  draft  of  the  emancipation  proclamation 
to  his  cabinet  July  22,  1862.  Secretary  Seward  suggested  that  it  be 
set  aside  until  after  a  decisive  victory.  The  preliminary  proclama- 
tion was  issued  September  22,  1862,  following  the  victory  at  Antie- 
tam,  announcing  among  other  things,  that,  if  the  Confederate  States 
did  not  return  to  their  allegiance  before  January  i,  1863,  all  per- 
sons held  by  them  as  slaves  would  be  "then,  thenceforth,  and  for- 
ever free."  The  proclamation  of  Jan.  i,  1863  is  given  below : 

A  Proclamation. 

WHEREAS,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  September,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty- 
two,  a  proclamation  was  issued  by  the  President  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  containing,  among  other  things,  the  following, 
to  wit: 

.  "That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  all  persons 
held  as  slaves  within  any  state  or  designated  part  of  a  state, 
the  people  whereof  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the 
United  States,  shall  be  then,  henceforward,  and  forever, 
free;  and  the  Executive  Government  of  the  United  States, 
including  the  military  and  naval  authority  thereof,  will  rec- 
ognize and  maintain  the  freedom  of  such  persons,  and  will 
do  no  act  or  acts  to  repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them, 
in  any  efforts  they  may  make  for  their  actual  freedom. 

"That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first  day  of  January 
aforesaid,  by  proclamation,  designate  the  states  and  parts 
of  states,  if  any,  in  which  the  people  thereof,  respectively, 


36  EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION. 

shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States ;  and  the 
fact  that  any  state,  or  the  people  thereof,  respectively,  shall 
then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States ;  and  the  fact 
that  any  state,  or  the  people  thereof,  shall  on  that  day  be  in 
good  faith  represented  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
by  members  chosen  thereto  at  elections  wherein  a  majority 
of  the  qualified  voters  of  such  states  shall  have  participated, 
shall,  in  the  absence  of  strong  countervailing  testimony,  be 
deemed  conclusive  evidence  that  such  state,  and  the  people 
thereof,  are  not  then  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States." 

Now,  therefore,  I,  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  President  of  the 
United  States,  by  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  as  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States, 
in  time  of  actual  armed  rebellion  against  the  authority  and 
Government  of  the  United  States,  and  as  a  fit  and  necessary 
war  measure  for  suppressing  said  rebellion,  do,  on  this  first 
day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  in  accordance  with  my  pur- 
pose so  to  do,  publicly  proclaimed  for  the  full  period  of  one 
hundred  days  from  the  day  first  above  mentioned,  order  and 
designate  as  the  states  and  parts  of  states  wherein  the  peo- 
ple thereof,  respectively,  are  this  day  in  rebellion  against 
the  United  States,  the  following,  to  wit: 

Arkansas,  Texas,  Louisiana,  (except  the  parishes  of  St. 
Bernard,  Plaquemines,  Jefferson,  St.  John,  St.  Charles,  St. 
James,  Ascension,  Assumption,  Terre  Bonne,  Lafourche, 
St.  Mary,  St.  Martin,  and  Orleans,  including  the  city  of 
Xew  Orleans,)  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Florida.  Georgia, 
South  Carolina,  North  Carolina,  and  Virginia,  (except  the 
forty-eight  counties  designated  as  West  Virginia,  and  also 
the  counties  of  Berkeley,  Accomac,  Northampton,  Elizabeth 
City,  York(  Princess  Ann,  and  Norfolk,  including  the  cities 
of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth,)  and  which  excepted  parts  are 
for  the  present  left  precisely  as  if  this  proclamation  were 
not  issued. 

And  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  the  purpose  aforesaid, 
I  do  order  and  declare  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within 
said  designated  states  andparts  of  states  are,  and  hencefor- 
ward shall  be,  free ;  and  that  the  Executive  Government  of 
the  United  States,  including  the  military  and  naval  author- 
ities thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of 
said  persons. 


RESUMPTION  OF  SPECIE  PAYMENT,  1875.  37 

And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  people  so  declared  to  be 
free  to  abstain  from  all  violence,  unless  in  necessary  self- 
defence  ;  and  I  recommend  to  them  that,  in  all  cases  when 
allowed,  they  labor  faithfully  for  reasonable  wages. 

And  I  further  declare  and  make  known  that  such  per- 
sons, of  suitable  condition,  will  be  received  into  the  armed 
service  of  the  United  States  to  garrison  forts,  positions, 
stations,  and  other  places,  and  to  man  vessels  of  all  sorts  in 
said  service. 

And  upon  this  act,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of  jus- 
tice, warranted  by  the  Constitution  upon  military  necessity, 
I  invoke  the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind  and  the 
gracious  favor  of  Almighty  God. 


Resumption  of  Specie  Payment,  January  14,  1875. 

The  financial  panic  and  business  failures  in  1873  led  to  the  in- 
troduction in  Congress  of  numerous  bills  relating  to  banks  and  cur- 
rency. The  "Inflation  Bill"  declaring  -for  $400,000,000  in  greenbacks 
was  vetoed  by  President  Grant.  The  Specie  Resumption  Act  Jan- 
uary 14,  1875,  received  his  signature. 

An  Act  to  Provide  for  the  Resumption  of  Specie  Payments. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled, 
That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  hereby  authorized 
and  required,  as  rapidly  as  practicable,  to  cause  to  be  coined, 
at  the  mints  of  the  United  States,  silver  coins  of  the  denom- 
inations of  ten,  twenty-five,  and  fifty  cents,  of  standard 
value,  and  to  issue  them  in  redemption  of  an  equal  number 
and  amount  of  fractional  currency  of  similar  denominations, 
or,  at  his  discretion,  he  may  issue  such  silver  coins  through 
the  mints,  the  sub-treasuries,  public  depositaries,  and  post- 
offices  of  the  United  States ;  and,  upon  such  issue,  he  is 
hereby  authorized  and  required  to  redeem  an  equal  amount 
of  such  fractional  currency,  until  the  whole  amount  of  such 
fractional  currency  outstanding  shall  be  redeemed. 

SEC.  2.  That  so  much  of  section  three  thousand  five  hun- 
dred and  twenty-four  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United 
States  as  provides  for  a  charge  of  one-fifth  of  one  per  cent- 
um for  concerting  standard  gold  bullion  into  coin  is  hereby 
repealed ;  and  hereafter  no  charge  shall  be  made  for  that 
service. 


38  RESUMPTION  OF  SPECIE  PAYMENT,  1875. 

SEC.  3.  That  section  five  thousand  one  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-seven of  the  Revised  Statutes,  limiting  the  aggregate 
amount  of  circulating  notes  of  national  banking  associations 
be,  and  is  hereby,  repealed ;  and  each  existing  banking  asso- 
ciation may  increase  its  circulating  notes  in  accordance  with 
existing  law  without  respect  to  said  aggregate  limit;  and 
new  banking  associations  may  be  organized  in  accordance 
with  existing  law  without  respect  to  said  aggregate  limit ; 
and  the  provisions  of  law  for  the  withdrawal  and  redistribu- 
tion of  national  bank  currency  among  the  several  States  and 
Territories  are  hereby  repealed.  And  whenever,  and  so 
often,  as  circulating  notes  shall  be  issued  to  any  such  bank- 
ing association,  so  increasing  its  capital  or  circulating  notes, 
or  so  newly  organized  as  aforesaid,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  redeem  the  legal-tender  United 
States  notes  in  excess  only  of  three  hundred  million  of  dol- 
lars, to  the  amount  of  eighty  per  centum  of  the  sum  of  na- 
tional-bank notes  so  issued  to  any  such  banking  association 
as  aforesaid  and  to  continue  such  redemption  as  such  cir- 
culating notes  are  issued  until  there  shall  be  outstanding  the 
sum  of  three  hundred  million  dollars  of  such  legal-tender 
United  States  notes,  and  no  more.  And  on  and  after  the 
first  day  of  January,  anno  Domini,  eighteen  hundred  and 
seventy-nine,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  redeem,  in 
coin,  the  United  States  legal-tender  notes  then  outstanding, 
on  their  presentation  for  redemption  at  the  office  of  the  as- 
sistant treasurer  of  the  United  States  in  the  city  of  Xew 
York,  in  sums  of  not  less  than  fifty  dollars.  And  to  enable 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  prepare  and  provide  for 
the  redemption  in  this  act  authorized  or  required,  he  is  au- 
thorized to  use  any  surplus  revenues,  from  time  to  time,  in 
the  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated,  and  to  issue,  sell 
and  dispose  of,  at  not  less  than  par,  in  coin,  either  of  the 
descriptions  of  bonds  of  the  United  States  described  in  the 
act  of  Congress  approved  July  fourteenth,  eighteen  hundred 
and  seventy,  entitled  "An  act  to  authorize  the  refunding  of 
the  national  debt,"  with  like  qualities,  privileges,  and  exemp- 
tions, to  the  extent  necessary  to  carry  this  act  into  full  effect, 
and  to  use  the  proceeds  thereof  for  the  purposes  aforesaid. 
And  all  provisions  of  law  inconsistent  with  the  provisions  of 
this  act  are  hereby  repealed. 


BLAND-ALLISON  ACT,  1878.  39 

Bland- Allison  Act,  February  28,  1878. 

Richard  P.  Bland  of  Missouri,  on  December  13,  1876,  introduced 
a  bill  in  the  House  to  provide  for  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of 
silver  dollars,  which  was  passed  the  same  day.  The  bill  was  amend- 
ed in  the  Senate  under  the  leadership  of  Wm.  B.  Allison  of  Iowa, 
Sections  2.,  3,  the  provisos  of  Section  i,  were  edded  by  the  Senate, 
and  the  "free  and  unlimited  coinage"  clause  was  changed  so  as  to 
provide  for  the  purchase  by  the  government  of  a  limited  amount 
of  silver  bullion,  which  was  to  be  coined  into  silver  dollars.  The 
House  concurred  in  the  Senate  amendment.  President  Hayes  ve- 
toed the  bill,  but  Congress  repassed  it  over  his  vetoe.  The  coinage 
provision  of  the  Act  was  repealed  by  Section  5  of  the  Act  of  July 
14,  1890.  378,166,193  Silver  dollars  were  coined  under  this  act. 
The  purchase  value  of  the  bullion  was  $308,729,000,  yielding  a  seign- 
iorage of  nearly  $70,000,000,  which  was  turned  into  the  U.  S.  Treas- 
ury. 

An  Act  to  Authorise  the  Coinage  of  the  Standard  Silver 

Dollar,  and  to  Restore  its  Legal-Tender  Character. 
Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled, 
That  there  shall  be  coined,  at  the  several  mints  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  silver  dollars  of  the  weights  of  four  hundred  and 
twelve  and  a  half  grains  troy  of  standard  silver,  as  pro- 
vided in  the  act  of  January  eighteenth,  eighteen  hundred 
thirty-seven,  on  which  shall  be  the  devices  and  superscrip- 
tions provided  by  said  act ;  which  coins  together  with  all 
silver  dollars  heretofore  coined  by  the  United  States,  of 
like  weight  and  fineness,  shall  be  a  legal  tender  at  their  nom- 
inal value,  for  all  debts  and  dues  public  and  private,  except 
where  otherwise  expressly  stipulated  in  the  contract.  And 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  authorized  and  directed  to 
purchase,  from  time  to  time,  silver  bullion,  at  the  market 
price  thereof,  not  less  than  two  millions  dollars  worth  per 
month,  nor  more  than  four  million  dollars  worth  per  month, 
nor  more  than  four  million  dollars  worth  per  month,  and 
cause  the  same  to  be  coined  monthly,  as  fast  as  so  purchas- 
ed, into  such  dollars;  and  a  sum  sufficient  to  carry  out  the 
foregoing  provision  of  this  act  is  hereby  appropriated  out 
of  any  money  in  the  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated. 
And  any  gain  or  seigniorage  arising  from  this  coinage 
shall  be  accounted  for  and  paid  into  the  Treasury,  as  pro- 
vided under  existing  laws  relative  to  the  subsidiary  coinage : 
Provided,  That  the  amount  of  money  at  any  one  time  in- 
vested in  such  silver  bullion,  exclusive  of  such  resulting  coin, 


40  SILVER  PURCHASE  ACT,  1890. 

shall  not  exceed  five  million  dollars:  And  provided  further, 
That  nothing  in  this  act  shall  be  construed  to  authorize  the 
payment  in  silver  of  certificates  of  deposit  issued  under  the 
provisions  of  section  two  hundred  and  fifty-four  of  the  Re- 
vised Statutes. 

Section  2  Provides  for  a  conference  with  other  nations  for  the 
establishment  of  an  international  ratis  of  gold  and  silver. 

SEC.  3.  That  any  holder  of  the  coin  authorized  by  this 
act  may  deposit  the  same  with  the  Treasurer  or  any  assist- 
ant treasurer  of  the  United  States,  in  sums  not  less  than  ten 
dollars,  and  receive  therefor  certificates  of  not  less  than  ten 
dollars  each,  corresponding  with  the  denominations  of  the 
United  States  notes.  The  coin  deposited  in  the  Treasury 
for  the  payment  of  the  same  on  demand.  Said  certificates 
shall  be  receivable  for  customs,  taxes,  and  all  public  dues, 
and,  when  so  received,  may  be  reissued. 

SEC.  4.  All  acts  and  parts  of  acts  inconsistent  with  the 
provisions  of  this  are  hereby  repealed. 

SAM  J.  RANDALL, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

W.  A.  WHEELER, 
V ice-President  of  the  United  States  and 

President  of  the  Senate. 


Silver  Purchase  Act,  July  14,  1890. 

The  agitation  for  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver  continued. 
Financial  bills  were  introduced  in  both  the  House  and  Senate.  The 
latter  passed  a  free  and  unlimited  coinage  bill  June  17,  1890,  which 
was  rejected  by  the  House  June  25,  A  conference  committee  set- 
tled the  form  of  the  bill,  which  was  passed  and  became  known  as 
the  Sherman  Act.  168,674,682  ounces  of  silver  bullion  were  pur- 
chased by  the  government  under  the  provisions  of  this  Act.  It  was 
repealed  November  i,  1893. 

An  Act  Directing  the  Purchase  of  Silver  Bullion  and  the 

issue  of  Treasury  Notes  Thereon,  and  for  Other  Purposes. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 

of   the    United  States  of  America   in  Congress  Assembled, 

That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  hereby  directed  to 

purchase,  from  time  to  time,  silver  bullion  to  the  aggregate 

amount  of  four  million  five  hundred  thousand  ounces,  or  so 

much  thereof,  as  may  be  offered  in  each     month,  at  the 


SILVER  PURCHASE  ACT,  1890.  41 

market  price  thereof,  not  exceeding  one  dollar  for  three 
hundred  and  seventy-one  and  twenty-five  hundredths  grains 
of  pure  silver,  and  to  issue  in  payment  for  such  purchases 
of  silver  bullion  Treasury  notes  of  the  United  States  to  be 
prepared  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  such  form 
and  of  such  denominations,  not  less  than  one  dollar  nor  more 
than  one  thousand  dollars,  as  he  may  prescribe,  and  a  sum 
sufficient  to  carry  into  effect  the  provisions  of  this  act  is 
hereby  appropriated  out  of  any  money  in  the  Treasury  not 
otherwise  appropriated. 

SEC.  2.  That  the  Treasury  notes  issued  in  accordance 
with  the  provisions  of  this  act  shall  be  redeemable  on  de- 
mand, in  coin,  at  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  or  at 
the  office  of  any  assistant  treasurer  of  the  United  States,  and 
when  so  redeemed  may  be  reissued ;  but  no  greater  or  less 
amount  of  such  notes  shall  be  outstanding  at  any  time  than 
the  cost  of  the  silver  bullion  and  the  standard  silver  dollars 
coined  therefrom,  then  held  in  the  Treasury  purchased  by 
such  notes;  and  such  Treasury  notes  shall  be  a  legal  tender 
in  payment  of  all  debts,  public  and  private,  except  where 
otherwise  expressly  stipulated  in  the  contract,  and  shall  be 
receivable  for  customs,  taxes,  and  all  public  dues,  and  when 
so  received  may  be  reissued ;  and  such  notes,  when  held  by 
any  national  banking  association,  may  be  counted  as  a  part 
of  its  lawful  reserve.  That  upon  demand  of  the  holder  of 
any  of  the  Treasury  notes  herein  provided  for  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  shall,  under  such  regulations  as  he  may  pre- 
scribe, redeem  such  notes  in  gold  or  silver  coin,  at  his  dis- 
cretion, it  being  the  established  policy  of  the  United  States 
to  maintain  the  two  metals  on  a  parity  with  each  other  upon 
the  present  legal  ratio,  or  such  ratio  as  may  be  provided  by 
law. 

SEC.  3.  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  each 
month  coin  two  million  ounces  of  the  silver  bullion  pur- 
chased under  the  provisions  of  this  act  into  standard  silver 
dollars  until  the  first  day  of  July  eighteen  hundred  and 
ninety-one,  and  after  that  time  he  shall  coin  of  the  silver 
bullion  purchased  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  as  much 
as  may  be  necessary  to  provide  for  the  redemption  of  the 
Treasury  notes  herein  provided  for,  and  any  gain  or  seign- 
iorage arising  from  each  coinage  shall  be  accounted  for  and 
paid  into  the  Treasury. 


42  COINAGE  LAW,  1900. 

SEC.  -t.  That  the  silver  bullion  purchased  under  the  pro- 
visions of  this  act  shall  be  subject  to  the  requirements  of 
existing  law  and  the  regulations  of  the  mint  service  govern- 
ing the  methods  of  determining  the  amount  of  pure  silver 
contained,  and  the  amount  of  charges  or  deductions,  if  any, 
to  be  made. 

SEC.  o.  That  so  much  of  the  act  of  February  twenty- 
eighth,  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-eight,  entitled  "An 
act  to  authorize  the  coinage  of  the  standard  silver  dollar  and 
to  restore  its  legal-tender  character,"  as  requires  the  month- 
ly purchase  and  coinage  of  the  same  into  silver  dollars  of 
not  less  than  two  million  dollars,  nor  more  than  four  million 
dollars'  worth  of  silver  bullion,  is  hereby  repealed. 

Section  6  Provides  Redemption  of  National  Bank  Notes  to  be 
made  from  general  fund  in  treasury,  etc. 

"SEC.  7.  That  this  act  shall  take  effect  thirty  days  from 
and  after  its  passage/' 


Coinage  Law.  March  14,  1900. 

The  Specie  Resumption  Act  1875,  required  the  redemption  of  U. 
S.  Notes  (greenbacks)  in  specie — gold  or  silver.  All  Secretaries  of 
Treasury,  however,  redeemed  the  notes  in  gold,  which  made  a  gold 
standard  money  measure  by  practice.  The  Act  which  repealed  the 
Sherman  Act  November  i,  1893,  declared  the  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment is  to  maintain  the  parity  of  value  of  gold  and  silver.  The 
silver  advocates  were  very  active.  The  issue  between  the  "free  and 
unlimited  coinage  of  silver"  and  the  "gold  standard  advocates  was 
bitterly  contested  in  State  and  National  elections.  The  gold  stand- 
ard forces  were  successful.  The  passage  of  this  act  makes  the  gold 
dollar  the  standard  unit  of  value,  and  requires  the  Secretary  of 
treasury  to  redeem  all  U.  S.  notes  and  treasury  notes  in  gold  coin, 
instead  of  in  coin  as  formally  required,  and  to  maintain  all  money, 
silver  and  paper,  on  a  parity  with  gold. 

An  Act  to  define  and  fi.r  the  standard  of  value,  to  maintain 
the  parity  of  all  forms  of  money  issued  or  coined  by  the 
United' States,  to  refund  the  public  debt,  and  for  other 
purposes. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled, 
That  the  dollar  consisting  of  twenty-five  and  eight-tenths 
grains  of  gold  nine-tenths  fine,  as  established  by  section 
thirty-five  hundred  and  eleven  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of 


COINAGE  LAW,  1900.  43 

the  United  States,  shall  be  the  standard  unit  of  value,  and 
all  forms  of  money  issued  at  a  parity  of  value  with  this 
standard,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  maintain  such  parity. 

SEC.  2.  That  United  States  notes,  and  Treasury  notes 
issued  under  the  Act  of  July  fourteenth,  eighteen  hundred 
and  ninety,  when  presented  to  the  Treasury  for  redemption 
shall  be  redeemed  in  gold  coin  of  the  standard  fixed  in  the 
first  section  of  this  act,  and  in  order  to  secure  the  prompt 
and  certain  redemption  of  such  notes  as  herein  provided  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  set 
apart  in  the  Treasury  a  reserve  fund  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  million  dollars  in  gold  coin  and  bullion,  which  fund 
shall  be  used  for  such  redemption  purposes  only,  and  when- 
ever and  as  often  as  any  of  said  notes  shall  be  redeemed 
from  said  fund  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  use  said  notes  so  redeemed  to  restore  and  main- 
tain such  reserve  fund  in  the  manner  following,  to  wit: 
First,  by  exchanging  the  notes  so  redeemed  for  any  gold 
coin  in  the  general  fund  of  the  Treasury ;  second,  by  accept- 
ing deposits  of  gold  coin  at  the  Treasury  or  at  any  sub- 
treasury  in  exchange  for  the  United  States  notes  so  re- 
deemed ;  third,  by  procuring  gold  coin  by  the  use  of  said 
notes,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  section  thirty- 
seven  hundred  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States. 
If  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  unable  to  restore  and 
maintain  the  gold  coin  in  the  reserve  fund  by  the  foregoing 
methods,  and  the  amount  of  such  gold  coin  and  bullion  in 
said  fund  shall  at  any  time  fall  below  one  hundred  million 
dollars,  then  it  shall  be  his  duty  to  restore  the  same  to  the 
maximum  sum  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars  by 
borrowing  money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States,  and 
for  the  debt  thus  incurred  to  issue  and  sell  coupon  or  reg- 
istered bonds  of  the  United  States,  in  such  form  as  he  may 
prescribe,  in  denominations  of  fifty  dollars  or  any  multiple 
thereof,  bearing  interest  at  the  rate  of  not  exceeding  three 
per  centum  per  annum,  payable  quarterly,  such  bonds  to  be 
payable  at  the  pleasure  of  the  United  States  after  one  year 
from  the  date  of  their  issue,  and  to  be  payable,  principal  and 
interest,  in  gold  coin  of  the  present  standard  value,  and  to 
be  exempt  from  the  payment  of  all  taxes  or  duties  of  the 
United  States,  as  well  as  from  taxation  in  any  form  by  or 


44  COINAGE  LAW,  1900. 

under  State,  municipal,  or  local  authority ;  and  the  gold  coin 
received  from  the  sale  of  said  bonds  shall  first  be  covered 
into  the  general  fund  of  the  Treasury  and  then  exchanged, 
in  the  manner  hereinbefore  provided,  for  an  equal  amount 
of  the  notes  redeemed  and  held  for  exchange,  and  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury  may,  in  his  discretion,  use  said  notes 
in  exchange  for  gold,  or  to  purchase  or  redeem  any  bonds 
of  the  United  States,  or  for  any  other  lawful  purpose  the 
public  interests  may  require,  except  that  they  shall  not  be 
used  to  meet  deficiencies  in  the  current  revenues.  That 
United  States  notes  when  redeemed  in  accordance  with  the 
provisions  of  this  section  shall  be  reissued,  but  shall  be  held 
in  the  reserve  fund  until  exchanged  for  gold,  as  herein  pro- 
vided ;  and  the  gold  coin  and  bullion  in  the  reserve  fund, 
together  with  the  redeemed  notes  held  for  use  as  provided 
in  this  section,  shall  at  no  time  exceed  the  maximum  sum 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars. 

SEC.  3.  That  nothing  contained  in  this  act  shall  be  con- 
strued to  affect  the  legal-tender  quality  as  now  provided  by 
law  of  the  silver  dollar,  or  of  any  other  money  coined  or 
issued  by  the  United  States. 

SEC.  4.  That  there  be  established  in  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment, as  a  part  of  the  office  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  United 
States,  divisions  to  be  designated  and  known  as  the  division 
of  issue  and  the  division  of  redemption,  to  which  shall  be 
assigned,  respectively,  under  such  regulations  as  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  may  approve,  all  records  and  accounts 
relating  to  the  issue  and  redemption,  to  which  shall  be  as- 
signed, respectively,  under  such  regulations  as  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  may  approve,  all  records  and  accounts 
relating  to  the  issue  and  redemption  of  United  States  notes, 
gold  certificates,  silver  certificates,  and  currency  certificates. 
There  shall  be  transferred  from  the  accounts  of  the  general 
fund  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  and  taken  up  on 
the  books  of  said  divisions,  respectively,  accounts  relating 
to  the  reserve  fund  for  the  redemption  of  United  States 
notes  and  Treasury  notes,  the  gold  coin  held  against  out- 
standing gold  certificates,  the  United  States  notes  held 
against  outstanding  currency  certificates,  and  the  silver  dol- 
lars held  against  outstanding  silver  certificates,  and  each  of 
the  funds  represented  by  these  accounts  shall  be  used  for 
the  redemption  of  the  notes  and  certificates  for  which  they 


COINAGE  .LAW,  1900.  45 

are  respectively  pledged,  and  shall  be  used  for  no  other  pur- 
pose, the  same  being  held  at  trust  funds. 

SEC.  5.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  as  fast  as  standard  silver  dollars  are  coined  under 
the  provisions  of  the  acts  of  July  fourteenth,  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  ninety,  and  June  thirteenth,  eighteen  hundred  and 
ninety-eight,  from  bullion  purchased  under  the  act  of  July 
fourteenth,  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety,  to  retire  and  cancel 
an  equal  amount  of  Treasury  notes  whenever  received  into 
the  Treasury,  either  by  exchange  in  accordance  with  the 
the  provisions  of  this  act  or  in  the  ordinary  course  of  busi- 
ness, and  upon  the  cancellation  of  Treasury  notes  silver 
certificates  shall  be  issued  against  the  silver  dollars  so 
coined. 

SEC.  6.  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  hereby  au- 
thorized and  directed  to  receive  deposits  of  gold  coin  with 
the  Treasurer  or  any  assistant  treasurer  of  the  United 
States  in  sums  of  not  less  than  twenty  dollars,  and  to  issue 
gold  certificates  therefor  in  denominations  of  not  less  than 
twenty  dollars,  and  the  coin  so  deposited  shall  be  retained 
in  the  Treasury  and  held  for  the  payment  of  such  certificates 
on  demand,  and  used  for  no  other  purpose.  Such  certi- 
ficates shall  be, receivable  for  customs,  taxes,  and  all  public 
dues,  and  when  so  received  may  be  reissued,  and  when  held 
by  any  national  banking  association  may  be  counted  as  a 
part  of  its  lawful  reserve :  Provided,  That  whenever  and  so 
long  as  the  gold  coin  held  in  the  reserve  fund  in  the  Treas- 
ury for  the  redemption  of  United  States  notes  and  Treas- 
ury notes  shall  fall  and  remain  below  one  hundred  million 
dollars  the  authority  to  issue  certificates  as  herein  provided 
shall  be  suspended :  And  provided  further,  That  whenever 
and  so  long  as  the  aggregate  amount  of  United  States  notes 
and  silver  certificates  in  the  general  fund  of  the  Treasury 
shall  exceed  sixty  million  dollars  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury may,  in  his  discretion,  suspend  the  issue  of  the  certi- 
ficates herein  provided  for:  And  provided  further,  That  of 
the  amount  of  such  outstanding  certificates  one-fourth  at 
least  shall  be  in  denominations  of  fifty  dollars  or  less:  And 
provided  further,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  may, 
in  his  discretion,  issue  such  certificates  in  denominations  of 
ten  thousand  dollars,  payable  to  order.  And  section  fifty- 


46  COINAGE  LAW,  1900. 

one  hundred  and  ninety-three  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the 
United  States  is  hereby  repealed. 

SEC.  7.  That  hereafter  silver  certificates  shall  be  issued 
only  of  denominations  of  ten  dollars  and  under,  except  that 
not  exceeding  in  the  aggregate  ten  per  centum  of  the  total 
volume  of  said  certificates,  in  the  discretion  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  may  be  issued  in  denominations  of  twenty 
dollars,  fifty  dollars,  and  one  hundred  dollars ;  and  silver 
certificates  of  higher  denomination  than  ten  dollars,  except 
as  herein  provided,  shall,  whenever  received  at  the  Treas- 
ury or  redeemed,  be  retired  and  canceled,  and  certificates  of 
denominations  of  ten  dollars  or  less  shall  be  substituted 
therefor,  and  after  such  substitution,  in  whole  or  in  part,  a 
like  volume  of  United  States  notes  of  less  denomination 
than  ten  dollars  shall  from  time  to  time  be  retired  and  can- 
celed, notes  of  denominations  of  ten  dollars  and  upward 
shall  be  reissued  in  substitution  therefor,  with  like  qualities 
and  restrictions  as  those  retired  and  canceled. 

SEC.  8.  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  hereby 
authorized  to  use,  at  his  discretion,  any  silver  bullion  in  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States  purchased  under  the  Act  of 
July  fourteenth,  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety,  for  coinage 
into  such  denominations  of  subsidiary  silver  coin  as  may  be 
necessary  to  meet  the  public  requirements  for  such  coin : 
....  Whenever  any  silver  bullion  purchased  under  the 
act  of  July  fourteenth,  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety,  shall 
be  used  in  the  coinage  of  subsidiary  silver  coin,  an  amount 
of  Treasury  notes  issued  under  said  act  equal  to  the  cost 
of  the  bullion  contained  in  such  coin  shall  be  canceled  and 
not  reissued. 

SEC.  9.  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  hereby  au- 
thorized and  directed  to  cause  all  worn  and  uncurrent  sub- 
sidiary silver  coin  of  the  United  States  now  in  the  Treasury 
and  hereafter  received,  to  be  coined,  and  to  reimburse  the 
Treasurer  of  the  United  States  for  the  difference  between 
the  nominal  or  face  value  of  such  coin  and  the  amount  the 
same  will  produce  in  new  coin  from  any  moneys  in  the 
Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated. 

SEC.  10.  That  section  fifty-one  hundred  and  thirty-eight 
of  the  Revised  Statutes  is  hereby  amended  so  as  to  read  as 
follows : 

''Section  5138.    No  association  shall  be  organized  with  a 


COINAGE  LAW,  1900.  47 

less  capital  than  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  except  that 
banks  with  a  capital  of  not  less  than  fifty  thousand  dollars, 
may,  with  the  approval  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
be  organized  in  any  place  the  population  of  which  does  not 
exceed  six  thousand  inhabitants,  and  except  that  banks  with 
a  capital  of  not  less  than  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  may, 
with  the  sanction  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  be  or- 
ganized in  any  place  the  population  of  which  does  not  ex- 
ceed three  thousand  inhabitants.  No  association  shall  be 
organized  in  a  city  the  population  of  which  exceeds  fifty 
thousand  persons  with  a  capital  of  less  than  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars." 

SEC.  12.  That  upon  the  deposit  with  the  Treasurer  of  the 
United  States,  by  any  national  banking  association,  of  any 
bonds  of  the  United  States  in  the  manner  provided  .by  exist- 
ing law,  such  association  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  from 
the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency  circulating  notes  in  blank, 
registered  and  countersigned  as  provided  by  law,  equal  in 
amount  to  the  par  value  of  the  bonds  so  deposited ;  and  any 
national  banking  association  now  having  bonds  on  deposit 
for  the  security  of  circulating  notes,  and  upon  which  an 
amount  of  circulating  notes  has  been  issued  less  than  the 
par  value  of  the  bonds,  shall  be  entitled,  upon  due  applica- 
tion to  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency,  to  receive  addi- 
tional circulating  notes  in  blank  to  an  amount  which  will 
increase  the  circulating  notes  held  by  such  association  to 
the  par  value  of  the  bonds  deposited,  such  additional  notes 
to  be  held  and  treated  in  the  same  way  as  circulating  notes 
of  national  banking  associations  heretofore  issued,  and 
subject  to  all  the  provisions  of  law  affecting  such  notes: 
Provided,  That  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed 
to  modify  or  repeal  the  provisions  of  section  fifty-one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-seven  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United 
States,  authorizing  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency  to  re- 
quire additional  deposits  of  bonds  or  of  lawful  money  in 
case  the  market  value  of  the  bonds  held  to  secure  the  cir- 
culating notes  shall  fall  below  the  par  value  of  the  circulat- 
ing notes  outstanding  for  which  such  bonds  may  be  deposit- 
ed as  security:  And  provided  further,  That  the  circulating 
notes  furnished  to  national  banking  associations  under  the 
provisions  of  this  act  shall  be  of  the  denominations  pre- 


48  COINAGE  LAW,  1900. 

scribed  by  law,  except  that  no  national  banking  association 
shall,  after  the  passage  of  this  act,  be  entitled  to  receive 
from  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency,  or  to  issue  or  re- 
issue or  place  in  circulation,  more  than  one-third  in  amount 
of  its  circulating  notes  of  the  denomination  of  five  dollars : 
And  provided  further,  That  the  total  amount  of  such  notes 
issued  to  any  such  association  may  equal  at  any  time  but 
shall  not  exceed  the  amount  at  such  time  of  its  capital  stock 
actually  paid  in :  .... 

SEC.  13.  That  every  national  banking  association  having 
on  deposit,  as  provided  by  law,  bonds  of  the  United  States 
bearing  interest  at  the  rate  of  two  per  centum  per  annum, 
issued  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  to  secure  its  circulat- 
ing notes,  shall  pay  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States, 
in  the  months  of  January  and  July,  a  tax  of  one-fourth  of 
one  per  centum  each  half  year  upon  the  average  amount  of 
such  of  its  notes  in  circulation  as  are  based  upon  the  deposit 
of  said  two  per  centum  bonds ;  and  such  taxes  shall  be  in 
lieu  of  existing  taxes  on  its  notes  in  circulation  imposed  by 
section  fifty-two  hundred  and  fourteen  of  the  Revised 
Statutes. 

SEC.  14.  That  the  provisions  of  this  act  are  not  intended 
to  preclude  the  accomplishment  of  international  bimetal- 
lism whenever  conditions  shall  make  it  expedient  and  prac- 
ticable to  secure  the  same  by  concurrent  action  of  the  lead- 
ing commercial  nations  of  the  world  and  at  a  ratio  which 
shall  insure  permanence  of  relative  value  between  gold  and 
silver. 

Approved,  March  14,  1900. 


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